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HISTORY 


OF 


FORT    WAY  N  E, 

FROM 

THE  EARLIEST  KNOWN  ACCOUNTS 

OP 

THIS  POINT, 
TO   THE  PRESENT  PERIOD. 

EMBRACING   AN  EXTENDED  VIEW  OF  THE  ABORIGINAL   TRIBES 

«  OF     THE    NORTHWEST,    INCLUDING,    MORE    ESPECIALLY, 

THE    MIAMIES,  OF   THIS    LOCALITY—  THEIR    HABITS, 

CUSTOMS,  ETC.—  TOGETHER  WITH  A  COMPREHEN- 

SIVE SUMMARY  OF  THE  GENERAL  RELATIONS 

OF  THE  NORTHWEST,  FROM  THE  LATTER 

PART   OF    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CEN- 

TURY, TO  THE  STRUGGLES  OF  1812-14; 

WITH    A   SKETCH     OF  THE 

LIFE  OF  GENERAL  ANTHONY  WAYNE  ; 

INCLUDING  ALSO   A  LENGTHY 

BIOGRAPHY   OF    THE    LATE    HON.    SAMUEL    HANNA, 

TOGETHER  WITH  SHORT 

SKETCHES   OF   SEVERAL   OF    THE   EAELY  PIONEER 
SETTLERS   OF    FORT  WAYNE. 

ALSO  AN  ACCOUXT  Of   THE 

MANUFACTURING,  MERCANTILE,  AND  RAILROAD  INTERESTS 

OF  FORT  WAYNE  AND  VICINITY. 

BY     -WALLACE     A.     BRICE. 

WITH 


FORT   WJ11WJB,  IJVJOt 

D.  W.  JONES  &  SON,  STEAM  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTERS. 
1868. 


Entered,  according  to  act  of  Congreis,on  the  26th  day  of  February,  1868, 

BY  WALLACE  A.  BRICK, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for 
the  District  of  Indiana* 


F 


TO  T7IE  CITIZENS 

OF  THS 

CITY  OP  FORT  WAYNE  AND  VICINITY, 

AMD 

Farmers  of  Allen  County, 

AS    AN   HUMBLE   TRIBUTE   OP   ESTEEM, 

This  Volume  it  most  Kindly  dedicated, 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


:.^v---  - 
°*j 


*^' 


fc^: 


D  .' 
^ 


PREFATORY  REMARKS. 


When  I  first  thought  to  gather  together  and  arrange  the  material  with  which  to 
form  the  HISTORY  or  FORT  WAYNE,  I  had  little  comprehended  the  magnitude  and 
extent  of  the  field  or  matter  thereof;  and  after  receiving  the  ready  and  liberal  assur- 
ances and  aid  of  a  large  mass  of  the  citizens  of  Fort  Wayne  in  substantial  subscrip- 
tions thereto,  and  made  known  my  intention  to  issue  the  work,  I  soon  found  myself 
encompassed  on  all  sides  by  a  vast  store  of  information  and  facts,  from  which  to 
draw  and  form  the  material  for  the  work. 

Though,  from  an  early  day,  widely  known  as  a  point  of  great  interest  and  im- 
portance, both  as  to  its  aboriginal  renown,  throughout  the  northwest,  for  many  con- 
secutive years  ;  and  the  whites,  for  nearly  a  century  before  the  war  of  1812,  yet, 
aside  from  a  few  short,  hastily-written,  and  very  incomplete  sketches  of  the  place 
and  adjacent  localities,  no  one  had  ever  ventured  or  been  sufficiently  aroused  to  the 
importance  und  value  of  such  a  volume,  to  write  and  arrange  the  history  of  this 
old  carrying-place,  and  former  center  of  Indian  life,  in  view  of  which,  the  French, 
the  English,  and  the  American  soldiers  had  so  long  successively  stood  guard. 

Having  procured  many  valuable  documents,  old  and  rare,  from  which  to  draw 
much  of  interest  for  the  work,  and  received  also  much  important  information  from 
those  of  the  Pioneer  fathers  and  mothers  among  us,  who  still  survive  to  tell  the 
story  of 

"  tlie  early  times  out  west, 
*      s        *        *        «        * 

In  the  days  when  THKT  wero  Pioneers, 
Fifty  years    ago," 

I  readily  saw  that,  to  do  justice  to  so  extended  a  body  of  matter,  time  would  not 
only  be  required  to  put  it  into  readable  form,  but  much  care  needed  in  the  sifting 
and  selection  of  the  material ;  and  so,  with  large  perseverance  and  a  determination 
not  to  slight  or  overlook  any  important  feature  of  the  work,  during  the  latter  part 
of  May  and  first  of  June  last,  I  began  industriously  to  devote  myself  to  the  task  of 
writing  and  arranging  the  matter  for  the  volume,  often,  during  the  warm  months 
of  summer,  repairing  to  the  woods  in  the  vicinity,  writing  much  of  the  work  upon 
the  ground,  where,  in  former  years,  were  to  be  seen  many  Indian  lodges,  and  also 
contiguous  to  points  where  the  early  skirmishes  between  the  Indians  and  whites 
had  occurred. 

Thus  pushing  forward,  filling  several  hundred  pages  of  paper,  by  the  latter 
part  of  September,  I  found  my  task  about  complete,  and  the  MSS.  in  tho*  hands 
of  the  printer. 

In  my  efforts  to  obtain  information,  I  am  pleased  to  say  that  many  not  only 
freely  told  me  all  the  important  facts  they  could  call  to  mind,  but  kindly  extended 
to  me  the  use  of  valuable  books,  papers,  &c.  Among  these  I  may  name  Cuas.  B- 


PREFATORY  REMARKS.  vi 

* 

Ljuselle,  Esq.,  of  Logansport,  Ind.,  John  P.  Hedges,  Esq.,  Hon.  J.  W.  Borden, 
Louis  Peltier,  T.N.  Hood,  Dr.. I.  B.  Brown,  J.  L.Williams,  Esq.,  Mr.  J.  J.  Comparet. 
Mrs.  Griswold,  Mrs.  Laura  SutteHfield,  and  others. 

Among  the  historical  works  referred  to,  and  drawn  from,  I  have  been  par. 
ticularly  careful  to  "keep  good  company,"  and  have  used  the  material  of  those 
volumes  only  which  have  well  sustained  a  reputation  for  accuracy,  some  of  which 
have  long  since  gone  out  of  print.  Among  these,  I  may  mention  "  The  History  of 
the  Late  War  in  the  "Western  Country,"  by  Col.  Kobt.  B.  M'Afee,  who  was  herc 
with  the  army  during  much  of  the  war  of  1812  and  '14 — (this  volume  is  now  fifty 
years  old) ;  Butler's  "  History  of  Kentucky  "—1836 ;  Drake's  "  Life  of  Black  Hawk" 
—1833 ;  "  The  Hesperian,  or  Western  Monthly  Magazine  "—1838 ;  "  The  American 
Pioneer;"  "  Wau-Bun,  the  '  Early  Day  '  in  the  Northwest ;  "  "  Western  Annals ;" 
Sparks'  "American  Biography,"  "States  and  Territories  of  the  Great  West;  "  Park- 
man's  "History  of  the  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac;'1  Dillon's  "  History  of  Indiana;"  Judge 
Law's  "Address" — 1839;  etc.,  etc.,  together  with  a  number  of  papers  containing  inter- 
esting and  valuable  sketches. 

Much  more  might  have  been  added  to  the  work ;  but  the  price  charged  for  il 
would  not  well  admit  of  an  enlargement  beyond  the  number  of  pages  presented. 
In  actual  amount  of  matter,  however,  the  pages  being  "  solid,"  it  will  not  fall  far 
short  of  many  works  of  a  similar  character,  which,  though  containing  a  less  number 
of  lines  on  each  page,  are  yet  much  more  bulky  and  voluminous.  Indeed,  so  ex- 
tensive were  many  of  the  facts  and  matter  generally  from  which  the  work  has  been 
drawn,  that,  in  some  instances,  I  have  been  compelled  to  leave  out  and  cut  short 
much  matter  that  I  should  liked  to  have  presented  in  the  present  issue.  But  all 
•will  "  keep,"  very  well,  subject  to  a  further  call  by  the  public. 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  volume,  the  reader  will  find,  together  with  some  other 
matter  of  interest,  several  sketches  of  early  settlers  of  Fort  Wayne,  conspicuous 
among  which  will  be  found  a  very  lengthy  Biography  of  our  late  most  beloved 
and  lamented  fellow-citizen,  Hon.  Samuel  Hanna,  from  the  able  pen  of  his  old 
friend  and  companion,  one  of  Fort  Wayne's  most  worthy  and  respected  citizens, 
G.  W.  Wood,  Esq.  A  short  sketch  of  the  father  of  Charles  B.  Lasselle,  Esq.,  "  the 
first  white  man  born  at  Ke-ki-ong-a,"  will  be  found  in  this  part  of  the  work  ;  one 
also  of  Mr.  H.  Kudisill,  father  of  our  county  Auditor.  But  all  will  be  read  with  equal 
care  and  interest  by  the  reader.  Thanking  the  citizens  generally,  of  Fort  Wayne 
and  Allen  county,  including  especially  the  publishers  of  each  of  our  city  paper*, 
for  the  interest  manifested  in  behalf  of  the  work,  and  the' liberal  aid  extended  to  it, 
in  the  form  of  subscriptions,  I  trust,  in  return,  the  volume  mav  not  only  jrrove  a 
source  of  much  interest  and  value  to  all,  but  be  successful  in  rescuing  from  a  com- 
parative oblivion  the  historic  importance  to  which  Fort  Way  ne  is  so  justly  entitled. 

WALLACE  A.    BIUCE. 
FORT  WATUI,  IJCD.,  Dec.,  1867. 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  GEN.  ANTHONY  WAYNE. 


SKETCH    OF    THE    LIFE 

or 

GENERAL  ANTHONY  WAYNE. 


"  Lives  of  TRUE  men  all  remind  us 
Wo  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 
And,  departing,  leave  behind  us 
Foot-prints  on  the  sands  of  time." 


ANTHONY  WAYNE  was  not  alone  a  valiant  officer  and  soldier.  He  was  ;i 
moral  hero.  His  frontal  brain  was  large,  and  the  crown  of  his  head  well 
expanded.  Largely  intuitive,  ever  thoughtful,  sagacious,  and  resolute  of 
will ;  his  soul  was  imbued  with  a  large  feeling  of  benificence  as  well  as  de- 
termination— a  high  admiration  of  the  beautiful  and  picturesque  in  nature. 
While  clinging  to  the  sword,  as  a  means  of  safety,  he  was  disposed  to  invite 
his  antagonist  to  join  in  a  council  of  peace.  Always  on  the  look-out — 
cautious  and  most  prudent  in  his  movements — bold,  intrepid,  and  fearless, 
when  called  to  the  field  of  battle,  his  opponents  were  sure,  sooner  or  later, 
to  come  to  defeat.  He  was,  by  nature  and  organization,  a  soldier,  a  tac- 
tician, a  hero.  Somewhat  scholarly,  he  wrote  not  only  a  fair  hand,  but  an 
agreeable  diction  ;  and  was  noted  for  his  laconicism.*  Born  with  the 
great  spirit  of  true  Freedom  deeply  impressed  upon  him,  at  an  early  age  he 
became  imbued  with  the  importance  of  freeing  his  country,  and  making  it 
an  asylum  for  the  out-growth,  establishment,  and  perpetuation  of  un- 
sullied liberty,  free  institution^  and  good  government.  Thus  actuated 
and  impelled,  the  name  of  ANTHONY  WAYNE  is  found  among,  the  first  to 
lead  the  way  at  the  commencement  of  the  American  Revolution ;  and 
when,  a  few  years  after  the  long  struggle  for  Independence,  the  West  called 
for  the  services  of  one  equal  to  the  emergency  of  the  time,  he  was  soon 
sent  to  her  relief;  and  the  country,  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  months,  sub- 
sequent to  his  movement  thither,  was  made  to  rejoice  under  a  new  reign 
of  peace  and  safety  ,y 

The  grand-father  of  Wayne  was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  who  left  his 
native  country  during  1681,  and  removed  to  Ireland,  where  he  devoted 

•At  the  capture  of  Stony  Point,  he  addressed  the  following  to  Gen.  Washington  : 

STONY  POUT,  U'.TH  JULY,  1776,  2  O'clock,  A.  M. 

DKAR  (IKXF.RAL: — The  fort  and  gnn-i-on  with  <Vd.  .Johnson  ;nv  ours.  Our  officers  and 
men  behaved  like  men  who  are  determined  to  be  five.  Yours  most,  sincerely 

Cen.  Washington.  ANT'Y  WAYNE. 

fSee  Chapter  XII  of  this  volume. 


BlOGKAPHY   OF   GEN.  ANTHONY  WAYNE.  IX. 

himself  to  agriculture  for  a  period  of  several  years.  Entering  the  army 
of  William  of  Orange,  against  King  James,  the  exile,  in  1690,  he  fought 
at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  and  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Limerick,  making 
himself  quite  servicable  to  the  state,  for  which  he  seems  never  to  have  been 
duly  rewarded,  and  becoming  eventually  much  dissatisfied  with  the  gen- 
eral relations  of  his  adopted  country,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  he  left 
Ireland,  and  ventured  upon  a  voyage  across  the  Ocean,  reaching  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1722.  With  the  new  country  he  was  much  pleased,  and  soon 
purchased  a  farm  and  settled  in  Chester  county  of  that  state ;  and  it  was 
here  that  his  grand-son  and  name -sake,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1745. 

But  little  is  known  of  the  early  life  of  Wayne,  further  than  he  was 
accounted  a  "  pretty  wild  boy,"  and  from  his  youth  seemed  to  have  had  a 
greater  fondness  for  the  art  and  peril  of  war  than  any  thing  his  mind  could 
be  called  to.  For  this  pass-time  and  amusement,  he  forsook  school,  school- 
books,  and  gave  little  heed  to  much  earnest  advice.  His  uncle,  Gilbert 
Wayne,  to  whom  Anthony  was  sent  as  a  pupil  to  acquire  the  common 
rudiments  of  an  education,  wrote  to  his  father  as  follows  concerning  his 
nephew: 

"I  really  suspect,"  said  he,  "  that  parental  affection  blinds  you ;  and 
that  you  have  mistaken  your  son's  capacity.  What  he  may  be  best 
qualified  for,  I  know  not ;  but  one  thing  I  am  certain  of,  that  he  will 
never  make  a  scholar.  He  may  make  a  soldier  ;  he  has  already  dis- 
tracted the  brains  of  two-thirds  of  the  boys  under  my  direction,  by  rehersals 
of  battles,  and  sieges  &c.  They  exhibit  more  the  appearance  of  Indians  and 
harlequins  than  of  students  ;  this  one,  decorated  with  a  cap  of  many 
colors ;  and  others,  habited  in  coats  as  variegated  as  Joseph's  of  old ; 
some,  laid  up  with  broken  heads,  and  others  with  black  eyes.  During 
noon,  instead  of  the  usual  games  and  amusements,  he  has  the  boys  em- 
ployed in  throwing  up  redoubts,  skirmishing,  &c.  I  must  be  candid 
with  you,  brother  Isaac  ;  unless  Anthony  pays  more  attention  to  his 
books,  I  shall  be  under  the  painful  necessity  of  dismissing  him  from 
the  school." 

The  result  of  this  was  a  severe  lecture  from  his  father,  who  threatened, 
likewise,  to  withdraw  him  from  school  and  place  him  upon  the  farm  at 
hard  work,  if  failing  to  conduct  himself  differently,  in  the  future,  and  give 
over  his  sham  battling,  erection  of  redoubts,  military  rehearsals,  and 
building  of  mud  forts.  The  earnest,  resolute  words  of  his  father,  for 
whom  he  entertained  a  strong  affection  and  regard,  were  deeply  impressed 
upon  him  ;  and  he  resolved  to  return  to  his  uncle,  devote  himself  to  his 
studies,  and  forsake  all  that  had  given  rise  to  former  complaint  against 
him.  Thus  acting  and  applying  himself  diligently  to  his  studies  for  a 
period  of  eighteen  months,  his  uncle  was  compelled  to  admit  that  he  had 
not  only  "  acquired  all  that  his  master  could  teach,"  but  that  "  he  merited 
the  means  of  higher  and  more  general  instruction,"  which  induced  his 
father  at  once  to  send  him  to  the  Philadelphia  Academy,  where,  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  years,  he  had  acquired  an  extended  knowledge  of  Astronomy 
and  Mathematics.  Returning  again  to  his  native  county,  he  now  entered 
upon  the  business  of  land  surveying. 

It  was  about  this  period  that  the  peace  between  the  powers  of  Great 
Britain  and  France  was  terminated,  which  placed  Nova  Scotia  in  the 


x.  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

possession  of  the  former,  and  the  British  government  at  once  bethought 
to  colonize  her  newly  acquired  territory;  and  associations  soon  began  to 
be  formed  in  some  of  the  older  provinces  with  a  view  to  colonizing  these 
newly  acquired  regions.  Prominent  among  these  was  a  company  of  mer- 
chants and  others,  from  Pennsylvania,  embracing  among  their  number 
Benjamin  Franklin,  and  through  the  recomendation  of  Franklin,  young 
WAYNE,then  in  his  twenty-first  year, was  readily  chosen  special  agent  to  visit 
the  newly-acquired  territory,  to  examine  the  soil  best  adapted  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  and  to  gain  information  as  to  "  the  means  of  commercial 
facilities  connected  with  it."  Upon  this  important  mission  young  Wayne 
not  only  soon  embarked  and  performed  the  duties  thereof  most  satis- 
factorily to  all  concerned,  but  was  continued  in  the  trust  till  the  year  1767, 
when  the  difficulties,  then  assuming  a  serious  attitude  between  the  mother 
country  and  the  colonial  settlements  of  America,  had  the  effect  to 
break  up  the  enterprise  and  call  the  attention  of  the  colonists  to  matters 
of  self-defense  directly  within  the  colonial  settlements. 

Returning  again  to  Pennsylvania,  young  Wayne,  in  1767,  was  united 
in  wedlock  to  the  daughter  of  a  distinguished  merchant  in  Philadelphia, 
of  the  name  of  Benjamin  Penrose,  whither  he  soon  returned  to  Chester 
county,  and  again  embarked  in  the  occupation  of  surveying,  engaging 
also  in  agricultural  pursuits  when  a  short  cessation  or  pause  in  his  profes- 
sion occurred ;  and  in  this  latter  vocation  he  is  said  to  have  "  found  much 
to  gratify  his  taste." 

Continuing  to  menace  the  colonies,  and  insist  upon  her  policy  of  tax- 
ation, up  to  the  period  of  1774-5— to  which  time  we  find  Wayne  still 
engaged  in  the  business  of  surveying  and  farming — Great  Britain  was  at 
length  met  with  a  formidable  front  by  the  colonists,  who  had  determined 
to  resist  the  further  aggressions  of  the  king  and  Parliament  of  the  British 
government,  even  to  the  sword.  Indeed,  matters  had  now  assumed  such  a 
shape  as  to  leave  no  room  or  hope  for  escape  on  the  part  of  the  colonial 
settlements  ;  and  WAYNE  was  among  the  first  to  step  forward  and  de- 
clare for  a  positive  stand  against  the  further  encroachment  of  the 
British  Crown. 

The  events  now  surely  leading  to  a  long  and  severe  struggle  against 
the  mother  country,  in  which  he  was  to  take  so  active  a  part,  had  years 
before,  when  but  a  boy,  been  foreshadowed  in  his  ardent  love  of  military 
sports — his  fondness  for  the  erection  of  redoubts  and  mud  forts,  of  which 
his  uncle  so  earnestly  complained  ;  and  seeing  largely  the  importance 
of  readineu  f  :>r  such  a  campaign,  Wayne  began  at  once  to  withdraw  him- 
self from  all  political  assemblies  of  the  country,  and  devote  himself  to 
the  organization  and  instruction  of  military  bodies.  In  this  he  was  not 
only  wise,  but  successful ;  for,  within  the  period  of  six  weeks,  he  was 
able  to  bring  together  and  form  a  company  of  volunteers,  "  having,"  says 
the  account,*  from  which  the  foregoing  was  principally  drawn,"  more  the 
appearance  of  a  veteran  than  of  a  military  regiment." 

The  energy  and  capacity  of  WAYNE  had  now  begun  to  attract  public 
attention  ;  and  during  the  early  part  of  January,  1776,  the  Continental 
Congress  readily  conferred  upon  him  the  title  of  Colonel,  and  gave  him  the 
command  of  "  one  of  the  four  regiments  required  from  Pennsylvania,  in 
reinforcement  of  the  northern  army."  In  his  new  capacity,  he  was  ever 

"Prepared  by  hie  son,  Isaac  "Wayne,  and  first  published  in  a  work  printed  in 
Philadelphia  some  years  ago,  called  "  THK  CASKET. 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  GEN.  ANTHONY  WAYNE.  xi. 

noted   for  his  diligence  and  activity,  and  his  efforts  were  always  attended 
with  marked  success. 

The  regiment  under  his  command  having  been  speedily  raised  and 
equiped,  he  soon  took  up  his  line  of  march  for  Canada  ;  whither  he  arrived 
about  the  latter  part  of  June,  ('76,)  and  formed  a  part  of  Thompson's 
brigade,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Sorel.  Major-General  Sullivan,  then  in 
command  of  the  northern  army,  arrived  at  this  point  about  the  same  pe  - 
riod  of  Wayne's  arrival,  and  learning  that  the  British  commander  had 
sent  a  detachment  of  some  six  hundred  light  infantry  to  the  westward,  as 
far  as  the  village  of  Trois  Rivieres,  unattended  by  any  relief  corps,  a  plan 
was  at  once  agreed  upon  for  the  capture  of  the  detachment  and  post, 
and  establishing  there  a  formidable  battery,  "  which,  if  not  sufficient  en- 
tirely to  prevent  the  ascent  of  the  British  armed  vessels  and  transports 
to  Montreal,  might,  for  a  time  so  embarrass  the  navigation,  as  greatly  to 
retard  their  progress  thither."* 

Accordingly,  on  the  3rd  of  July,  with  St.  Glair's,  Wayne's  and  Ir- 
vine's regiments,  Major  Sullivan  dispatched  Thompson  to  a  little  village  on 
the  south  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  called  Niccolete,  which  stood  nearly 
opposite  to  the  village  of  Trois  Rivieres. 

Learning  "  that  a  place  called  the  White-house  (still  nearer  to  the  as- 
sailants than  Trois  Rivieres)  was  occupied  by  an  advanced  guard,"  and 
Thompson,  a  tactician  of  the  old  school,  being  of  the  opinion  that 
"  troops  acting  offensively  should  leave  no  hostile  post  in  their  rear," 
began  to  move  in  the  direction  of  the  supposed  position  of  the  enemy, 
but  soon  found  that  the  point  was  unoccupied. 

After  the  loss  of  much  time  and  the  encounter  of  many  perplexities, 
besides  placing  his  men  in  a  fair  position  for  a  surprise  and  capture, 
Thompson  now  directed  the  troops  to  return  to  the  place  of  their  landing. 
Having,  for  some  hours  previous,  been  shielded  by  the  night,  the  dawn 
now  began  to  appear,  and  the  enemy  caught  sight  of  the  detach- 
ment, and  were  soon  driving  it  from  point  to  point,  until,  at  length, 
the  troops  under  Thompson  were' compelled  to  seek  safety  in  a  consider- 
able morass,  "  from  which  he  had  just  extricated  himself,"  where  "  he  and 
a  few  others,"  were  soon  captured ;  and  Col.  St.  Clair,  second  in  command, 
having,  about  the  same  time,  been  disabled  in  one  of  his  feet,  the  fur- 
ther direction  of  the  forces  remaining  fell  upon  Col.  Wayne  ;  and 
though  badly  wounded,  HO  successful  was  he  in  the  conduct  of  the  move- 
ment, that  he  soon  gained  the  western  side  of  the  river  Des  Loups, 
and  rapidly  made  his  "  way  along  the  northern  bank  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, to  the  village  of  Berthier,"  gaining  the  American  camp  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Sorel  in  safety. 

Late  in  June,  General  Sullivan  began  to  perceive,  from  the  move- 
ments of  the  British,  that  his  position  was  no  longer  a  safe  one ;  and  im- 
mediately issued  an  order  for  the  evacuation  of  the  fort  of  the  Sorel,  and 
a  retreat  upon  Lake  Champlain. 

In  this  movement  Wayne  and  the  Pennsylvania  regiments  were  di- 
rected to  cover  the  rear.  So  close  was  the  enemy,  in  this  move,  "that 
the  boats  latest  getting  into  motion  were  not  beyond  the  reach  of  musket 
shot,  when  the  head  of  the  enemy's  column  entered  the  fort."  Without  fur- 
ther molestation  or  alarm,  the  army,  on  the  17th  of  July,  succeeded  in 
reaching  Ticonderoga. 

*'St.  Clair's   narrative. 


xii.  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WA.YNE. 

Thus  we  see,  in  the  very  out-set  of  the  struggle  for  Independence,  how 
our  hero,  step  by  step,  made  himself  most  serviceable  to  his  country  and, 
laid  the  foundation  for  lasting  renown. 

The  command  of  the  northern  troops,  now  devolving  upon  Gen.  Gate«» 
who,  learning  of  the  perilous  condition  of  Washington,  "  with  eight  regi- 
ments," marched  "  to  the  aid  of  the  Commander-in-chief,"  leaving  the 
post  of  Ticonderoga  in  the  command  of  Col.  Wayne,  with  a  force  of  two 
thousand  five  hundred  men — an  arrangement  that  not  only  proved  most 
pleasing  to  the  troops  under  him,  but  highly  agreeable  to  Congress,  which 
body,  in  order  the  better  to  encourage  and  sustain  the  appointment,  soon 
conferred  upon  Wayne  the  title  of  Brigadier-General,  continuing  him  in 
command  of  Ticonderoga  until  the  following  spring,  at  which  period  he 
was  called  to  the  ranks  of  the  main  army  under  Gen.  Washington,  reach- 
ing headquarters  on  the  15th  of  May,  1777,  where  he  was  at  once  placed 
at  the  head  of  a  brigade  "which,"  said  Washington,  "  could  not  fail  under 
his  direction  to.  be  soon  and  greatly  distinguished." 

We  now  find  Wayne  connected  with  nearly  every  important  movement 
of  the  Revolution;  and  though,  as  on  occasions  already  referred  to,  closely 
pursued  or  surrounded,  he  yet,  sooner  or  later,  was  ever  the  successful 
leader  or  actor  in  every  engagement. 

After  the  retreat  of  the  British  from  Philadelphia,  in  June,  1777,  we 
find  the  corps  under  Wayne,  with  those  of  Sullivan,  Maxwell,  and  Morgan. 
sent  in  pursuit,  of  which,  two  alone  (Wayne's  and  Morgan's)  were  enabled 
to  follow  up  the  retreat,  of  whom  Washington,  in  his  report  to  Congress. 
said  :  "  They  displayed  great  bravery  and  good  conduct ;  constantly  ad- 
vancing on  an  enemy  far  superior  to  themselves  in  numbers,  and  well  se- 
cured by  redoubts." 

At  the  brittle  of  Brandy  wine  "  Wayne  was  assigned  the  post  of  honor, 
that  of  leading  the  American  attack ;  a  service  he  performed  with  a  gal- 
lantry now  become  habitual  to  himself  and  the  division  he  commanded."* 

At  the  famous  engagement  of  StoBey  Point,  Wayne's  own  escapes  are 
stated  as  "  of  the  hair-breadth  kind.''f  Shortly  after  capturing  and 
entering  the  fortification  of  the  enemy,  he  was  struck  by  a  musket-ball  on 
the  head,  which  caused  his  fall ;  but  he  immediately  rallied,  crying  out, 
"  march  on,  carrjLme  into  the  fort ;  for  should  the  wound  be  mortal,  I  will 
die  at  the  head  of  the  column." 

This  engagement,  considered  "  the  most  brilliant  of  the  war,"  is  said  to 
have  "covered  the  commanding  general  (Wayne)  with  laurels;"  of  whom 
Washington,  referring  to  this  occasion,  said  in  his  report  to  Congress: 
"To  the  encoumiums  he  (Wayne)  has  deservedly  bestowed  on  the  officers 
and  men  under  his  command,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  add  that  his  own 
conduct  ttyfcpughout  the  whole  of  this  arduous  enterprise  merits  the  warm- 
est approWticn  of  Congress.  He  improved  on  the  plan  recommended  by 
me,  and  executed  it  in  a  manner  that  does  honor  to  his  judgement  and 
bravery  ;  "  and  Congress  tendered  him  a  vote  of  thanks  for  his  valiant 
efforts  on  the  occasion  in  question.  In  addition  to  these,  Wayne  was  the 
recipient  also  of  many  complimentary  letters  from  men  of  distinction  at 
the  time,  out;  of  which,  from  Gen.  Charles  Lee,  will  serve  as  illustrative, 

s''S|inrks'   Hiogrnpby,  vol.  4. 

tSo  intrepid  und  daring  was  he,  tbnt  early  in  tlin  r>ninp:iign  of  the  Revolution  he  re- 
ceived the  appellation  of  MAD  ANTHONY,  and  ever  afterward  retained  the  title,  by  which 
ho  is  still  familiarly  known  and  called. 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  GEN.  ANTHONY  WAYNE.  xin. 

perhaps,  of  their  general  tenor.  Said  Mr.  Lee:  "  what  I  am  going  to  say 
you  will  not  I  hope  consider  as  paying  my  court  in  this  your  hour  of 
u;lory;  for,  as  it  is  at  least  my  present  intention  to  leave  this  continent,  I 
can  have  no  interest  in  paying  my  court  to  any  individual.  What  I  shall 
say  therefore  is  dictated  by  the  genuine  feelings  of  my  heart.  I  do  most 
sincerely  declare  that  your  assault  of  Stony  Point  is  not  only  the  most 
brilliant  in  my  opinion,  throughout  the  whole  course  of  the  war  on  either 
side,  but  that  it  is  the  most  brilliant  I  am  acquainted  with  in  history;  the 
assault  of  Schweidnitz  by  Marshal  Loudon,  I  think  inferior  to  it.  I  wish 
you,  therefore,  most  sincerely,  joy  of  the  laurels  you  have  deservedly 
acquired,  and  that  you  may  long  live  to  wear  them.  With  respect  and  no 
small  admiration,  I  remain,  &c." 

If  a  mutinous  spirit  arose  among  the  troops  at  any  time  there  were 
none  better  able  to  quell  it  than  Wayne.  Universally  beloved  and  admired 
by  all  the  privates  under  him,  he  readily  exerted  a  salutary  influence  over 
them.  This  power  of  Wayne  was  strikingly  illustrated  during  the 
fore  part  of  January,  1781,  soon  after  the  distribution  of  the  army  for 
winter  '  quarters.  Shortly  after  the  ordinary  festivies  of  the  day,  "  the 
whole  division,  with  a  few  exceptions,  was  found  in  a  state  of  open  and 
decided  insurrection,  disclaiming  all  further  obedience,  and  boldly  avowing 
an  intention  of  immediately  abandoning  the  post,  and  of  seeking,  with 
arms  in  their  hands,  a  redress  of  their  grievances."*  The  affair  proved  a 
serious  one.  Every  attempt  to  quell  the  movement  seemed  to  have  been 
met  by  blows — "  wounds  were  inflicted  and  lives  lost."  The  grievances 
complained  of,  were  "  clothing  generally  bad  in  quality,  and  always  de- 
ficient in  quantity  ;  wages  irregularly  paid,  and  in  a  currency  far  below 
its  nominal  value ;  and,  lastly,  service  greatly  prolonged  beyond  the  legal 
term  of  enlistment." 

The  conflict  closed  about  half-past  eleven  o'clock ;  and  being  no  longer 
obstructed,  the  insurgents  began  a  march  toward  Princeton  ;  and  Wayne, 
then  stationed  in  the  neighborhood  of  Morristown,  at  some  risk,  deter- 
mined to  follow  them  and  endeavor  to  bring  them  again  to  order.  In  a  con- 
ciliatory and  dignified  manner,  overtaking  the  main  body  at  Vealtown, 
he  at  once  began  to  open  negotiations  with  some  of  the  non-commissioned 
officers  in  whom  he  placed  most  confidence  ;  and  it  was  not  long  before 
he  succeeded  in  convincing  them  that,  in  order  to  succeed  in  their  demands, 
a  change  in  their  course  and  demeanor  would  be  of  the  first  necessity — that 
without  such  a  course  of  order  on  the  part  of  the  agrieved,  nothing  what- 
ever could  be  effected — urging  the  necessity  of  organizing  a  board  or  ap- 
pointing a  committee  among  them  to  set  forth  the  grievances,  and  by  "  a 
full  and  clear  statement  of  their  demands  " — pledging  himself  to  become 
a  zealous  advocate  in  their  behalf,  in  "  so  far  as  the  claims  made  should 
be  founded  injustice  or  equity." 

These  suggestions  had  the  desired  effect ;  the  committee  was  duly  ap- 
pointed, and  the  march  towards  Princeton  was  again  begun,  but  in  a  man- 
ner much  more  orderly  than  before. 

Such  was  the  power  and  force  of  character  of  the  good  man  and  valiant 
soldier  after  whom  our  thriving  city  is  named ;  and  may  it  ever  emulate 
his  example. 

As  early  as  1777-8,  the  British  government  having  determined  to  direct 
*Hazard's  "  Register  of  Pennsylvania." 


xiv.  HISTORY  OP  FORT  WAYXE. 

some  formidable  operations  against  the  industrial  relations  of  the  South , 
in  the  early  part  of  April,  1781,  Washington  despatched  Lafayette,  <;  with 
twelve  hundred  regular  infantry  to  Virginia ;  and  not  long  after,  gave  to 
the  remains  of  the  Pennsylvania  line  (about  eleven  hundred,  commanded 
by  Wayne,)a similar  destination."  We  find  Gen.Wayne  engaging  the  Brit- 
Mi  at  Green  Spring,  driving  the  enemy's  pickets,  and  advancing  in  person 
to  within  some  "  fifty  yards  of  the  whole  British  army  drawn  up  in  order  of 
battle,  and  already  pushing  forward  flank-corps  to  envelope  him."  Deter- 
mining to  make  up  in  boldness  what  he  seemed  to  have  lost  or  was  about 
to  lose  in  a  too  near  approach  to  the  enemy's  lines,  he  made  a  bold  and  sud- 
den move  upon  the  enemy,  and  then  retreated,  which  gave  the  British  com- 
mandant to  infer  that  it  was  an  effort  to  draw  his  forces  into  ambush, 
which  made  so  decided  an  impression  in  this  direction,  "  that  all  pursuit 
of  the  American  corps  was  forbidden." 

By  some  this  movement  was  deemed  rash ;  but  Washington,  in  a  letter  to 
the  General,  said  :  "  I  received,  with  the  greatest  pleasure,  the  account  of  the 
action  at  Green  Spring."  Gen.  Greene  said:  "  the  Marquis  gives  you  great 
glory  for  your  conduct  in  the  action  at  Jamestown  ;  and  I  am  sensible  that 
you  merit  it.  0  that  I  had  but  had  you  with  me  a  few  days  ago  !  Your 
glory  and  the  public  good  might  have  been  greatly  advanced." 

On  the  first  day  of  January  following  this  movement,  by  order  of  Gen. 
Greene,  Gen.  Wayne  was  sent  "  to  reinstate,  as  far  as  might  be  possible, 
the  authority  of  the  Union  within  the  limits  of  Georgia,  with  one  hundred 
regular  dragoons,  three  hundred  undisciplined  Georgia  militia,and  about  the 
same  number  of  State  cavalry." 

Though  greatly  inadequate  to  the  end  desired,  yet  Wayne  is  said  to 
have  uttered  no  complaint  or  objection,  but  resolutely  moved  forward  on 
his  mission,  bringing  to  bear  his  usual  boldness  and  wisdom,  sufficient,  with 
this  small  force,  to  push  "  the  enemy  from  all  his  interior  posts,"  and  to 
"  cut  off  Indian  detachments  marching  to  his  aid  ;  "  intercepted  the  forays 
of  the  enemy's  main  body,  and  on  the  la&dside,  penned  him  up,  in  a  great 
degree,  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the  town  of  Savannah  ;  and  all  in  the 
4;  short  space  of  five  weeks." 

In  a  letter  to  Gen.  Greene,  bearing  date  Feb.  28,  1782,  Wayne  said  : 
"The  duty  we  have  done  in  Georgia  was  more  difficult  than  that  im- 
posed upon  the  children  of  Isreal ;  they  had  only  to  make  bricks  with 
straw,  but  we  have  had  provision,  forage,  and  almost  every  other  a.paratu.s 
of  war,  to  procure  without  money;  boats,  bridges,  &c.,  to  build  without 
material,  except  those  taken  from  the  stump;  and,  what  was  more  difficult 
than  all,  to  make  whigs  out  of  torie$.  But  this  we  have  effected,  and 
wrested  the  country  out  of  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  with  the  exception 
only  of  the  town  of  Savannah.  How  to  keep  it  without  some  additional 
force,  is  a  matter  worthy  of  consideration.1'* 

The  British  troops  having  evacuated  Savannah  about  the  12th  of  July, 
Wayne,  by  order  of  General  Greene,  with  the  troops  under  his  command,  was 
recalled  to  South  Carolina.  In  the  letter,  addressed  to  General  Wayne,  re- 
calling him  from  Georgia,  Greene  thus  wrote  :  "  I  am  happy  at  the  approach- 
ing deliverance  of  that  unfortunate  country  ;  and  what  adds  to  my  happiness* 

•In  a  letter  to  a  friend  the  General  said  :  "  In  the  five  weeks  we  have  been  here,  not 
an  officer  or  soldier  with  me  has  once  undressed,  except  for  the  purpose  of  changing  his 
linen.  The  actual  force  of  the  enemy  at  this  moment  is  more  than  three  times  that  of 
mine.  What  we  have  been  able  to  do  has  been  done  by  maneuve  ng  rather  than  by  force." 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  GEN.  ANTHONY  WAYNE.  xv. 

is,  that  it  will  reflect  no  small  honor  upon  you.  I  wish  you  to  be  persuaded, 
that  I  shall  do  you  ample  justice  in  my  public  accounts  to  Congress  and  the 
Commander-in-chief.  I  think  you  have  conducted  your  command  with  great 
prudence  and  with  astonishing  perseverance  ;  and,  in  so  doing,  you  have  fully 
answered  the  high  expectations  I  ever  entertained  of  your  military  abilities, 
from  our  earliest  acquaintance." 

Soon  after  the  evacuation  of  Savannah,  Charleston  WHS  given  up  by  the 
British,  which,  after  a  treaty  of  peace,  and  an  absence  of  seven  years  from  his 
family,  Wayne  again  returned  to  his  homestead  in  Chester  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, truly  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his  day,  crowned,  as  he  well 
deserved,  with  the  blessings  of  a  whole  nation  of  free  men,  and  noble  women. 

But  his  well  known  abilities,  and  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by 
his  fellow-citizens,  soon  brought  him  before  the  public  again,  but  in  another 
capacity  from  that  of  a  soldier.  He  was  now  elected  a  member  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Censors  ;  and  soon  after  this  event  he  was  honered  with  a  seat  in  the 
Convention  "  called  to  revise  and  amend  the  Constitution  of  the  State  ;  "  in  the 
discharge  of  which  duties  he  acquitted  himself  with  marked  ability,  and 
much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people. 

At  the  close  of  these  duties,  declining  any  further  services  of  a  civil  or  po- 
litical nature,  prefering  to  lead  a  life  of  retirement  rather  than  one  of  public 
distinction  of  any  kind;  and  thus,  principally  employed  in  the  pursuits  of  ag- 
riculture, was  his  time  passed  until,  by  the  wish  of  Washington  and  the 
voice  of  the  people,  in  the  early  part  of  1792,  Wayne  was  again  called  to  the 
service  of  his  country,  and  "  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  legion  and 
army  of  the  West,"  the  result  of  causes  which  the  reader  will  find  detailed  in 
Chapters  X,  XI,  and  XII,  of  this  volume. 

At  the  close  of  his  labors  in  the  west,  returning  to  the  east,  "  plaudits  and 
thanks,  public  and  private,"  were  showered  upon  him ;  and  "  Congress, 
then  in  session,  unanimously  adopted  resolutions  highly  complimentary  to 
the  General  and  the  whole  army." 

The  year  following  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  (1796),  being  appointed  sole 
commissioner  to  treat  with  the  northwestern  Indians,  and  also  "  receiver  of 
the  military  posts  given  up  by  the  British  government,  General  Wayne  again 
returned  to  the  west  ;  and,  after  a  prompt  aud  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties 
attached  to  these  new  functions,  while  descending  Lake  Erie  from  Detroit,  he 
was  attacked  by  the  gout,"  where  he  soon  after  died  ;  and,  at  his  own  re- 
quest, (having  previously  been  removed  to  the  block-house)  he  was  buried 
at  the  foot  of  the  flag-staff  of  the  garrison,  with  the  simple  inscription  of  "  A. 
W."  upon  the  stone  that  served  to  remind  the  inmates  and  the  stranger  of  the 
burial  place  of  the  patriot,  the  hero,  the  soldier,  and  the  man  of  true  courage 
and  remarkable  foresight,  ANTHONY  WAYNE. 

For  thirteen  years  the  remains  of  Wayne  continued  to  repose  beneath  this 
simple  head-stone,  at  the  foot  of  the  old  flag-staff  of  Erie,  when,  in  1809,  his 
son,  Col.  Isaac  Wayne,  desiring  to  remove  the  bones  of  his  valiant  father  to 
the  family  burial  place,  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  David's  Church,  in  Chester 
county,  Pennsylvania,  the  body  was  disinterred,  still  in  a  fine  state  of  preser- 
vation, and  removed  as  above,  where  a  monument  was  raised  to  his  memory 
by  the  "  Pennsylvania  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,"  on  which  the  visitant 
may  still  read  0:1  the  north  and  south  front  thereof,  the  following  inscription  ; 

"  NORTH  FRONT: — Major-general  ANTHONY  WAYNE  was  born  at  Waynesbor- 
ough,  in  Chester  county,  State  of  Pennsylvania,  A.  D.,  1745.  After  a  life 
of  honor  and  usefulness,  he  died  in  December,  1796,  at  a  military  post  on  the 


xvi.  HISTORY  OF  FOET  WAYNE. 

•» 

shore  of  Lake  Erie,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States. 
His  military  achievements  are  consecrated  in  the  history  of  his  country,  and 
in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  His  remains  arc  here  deposited. 

"  SOUTH  FRONT: — In  honor  of  the  distinguished  military  services  of  MAJOR- 
GENERAL  ANTHONY  WAYNE,  aud  as  an  affectionate  tribute  of  respect  to  his 
memory,  this  stone  was  erected  by  his  companions  in  arms,  the  Pennsylva- 
nia State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  July  4th,  A-  D.,  1809,  thirty-fourth  anni- 
versary of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  ;  an  event  which  constitutes 
the  most  appropriate  eulogium  of  an  American  soldier  and  patriot." 

The  accompanying  portrait  of  General  Wayne  is  from  an  old  painting  Of 
him,  and  is  doubtless  very  accurate,  and  will  no  doubt  be  highly  prized  by 
<-very  citizen  of  Fort  Wayne  and  lover  of  his  country  into  whose  hands  it 
should  chance  to  fall. 

Why  a  monument  has  not  long  ago  been  erected,  on  the  site  of  the  old 
fort,  to  the  memory  of  this  heroic  and  worthy  man,  including  also  Major 
Hamtramck,  and  the  valiant  soldiery  under  their  command,  I  know  not ;  but 
led  that,  though  so  long  forgotten  or  neglected,  the  work  will  yet  be  per- 
formed by  the  people  of  the  city  of  Fort  Wayne  and  county  of  Allen  ;  thus 
enabling  the  stranger  visiting  the  historic  scenes  of  our  city  and  adjacent  lo- 
calities to  behold,  instead  of  the  old  garrison, — whose  only  remains  among  us 
consists  in  a  few  plainly-wrought  canes,  in  the  possession  of  a  few  of  our  citi- 
zens, preserved  as  mementoes  of  the  fort  so  long  over-looking  the  confluence 
of  the  St.  Mary  and  St.  Joseph, — a  substantial  and  appropriate  monument 
to  the  memory  of  ANTHONY  WAYNE  and  the  brave  men  who  dared  to  follow 
him  to  this  ancient  stronghold,  that  the  then  infant  and'enfeebled  settlements 
of  the  west  might  enjoy  peace  and  safety,  and  our  beautiful  country  be  ena- 
bled to  march  steadily  on,  as  she  has,  to  her  present  condition  of  growth  and 
prosperity. 


HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE, 

Front  the  Earliest  Known  Accounts  or  tliis  Point  to  the  Present  Period. 


"  I  watch  the  circle  of  the  eternal  years, 

And  read  forever  in  the  storied  pr.ge 
One  lengthened  roll  of  blood  and  wrong  and  tears— 

One  onward  step  of  Truth  from  age  to  age." 

"  The  eternal  surge 

Of  Time  and  tide  rolls  on,  and  bears  afar 
Our  bubbles ;  and  the  old  burst — new  emerge, 
Lashed  from  the  foam  of  ages ;  while  the  graves 
Of  empires  heave  but  like  some  passing  waves." 

CHAPTER  I.— PRELIMINARY. 

of  the  Soil  in 

g:it,e" — Its  early  advantages  both  to  the  Indians  ami 

the.  Whites — The  Key  to  the  Northwest — Early  occupation  by  the  French,  English, 
and  Americans — For  centuries  doubtless  the  home  of  the  Ked  Wan — Its  promi- 
nence and  early  discovery  by  the  French — The  best  route  to  the  Miwinippi — Fii'st 
Settlement  at  Vinceinies — This  point  evidently  visited  before  Vincennes — L;i 
Su  lie's  journey  afoot — His  journal  to  Frontenae — Best  route — D'Aubry's  expedition 
—  Early  settlements — Appearance  in  1794 — English  and  French  Settlements — 
Early  missionaries — Efforts  of  the  French — La  Salle's  voyage — New  France — 
French  trading  posts — First  Mission  among  the  Miamies — Their  territory — Indian 
liberality — Hcnnepin— -The  missionaries  and  3Iiami»'s — La  Barre's  remonstrance — 
Illinois  Indians — Feuds  of  the  Iroquois,  Miami,  and  Illinois  tribe? — Traders  and 
squaws — Kaskaskia — Trade  arid  traffic — Best,  points — -French  Voyageurs  and  Ouiit- 
leiums — French  militia  arrive  here — French  fort — Capt.  d' Vincennes — The  English 
tort — Traced  by  Wayne  in  1794 — A  NOTE — Conclusive  evidence. 

(/•TfO  WRITE  of  the  past — to  preserve  the  historic  records  of 

O/)a  former  age — to  cull  the  good  and  the  true  of  any  time — to 

'j render  green  again  the  memories  and  relations  of  early  days, 

,  even  though  blood  and  carnage  had  marked  the  fields  and  tin* 

;  foot-prints  of  the  periods  gone  with  gory  redness,  and  made 

tho  rivers  and  rivulets  to  run  crimson  with  the  blood  of  the  slain — U 

Imt  to  perform  *n  .'common  duty  to  a  common  humanity  ! 


Primitive  traces — Situation,  general  appearance  of  the  Citv,  and  quality 
the  region — The  "glorious  gate" — Its  early  advantages  both  to  the 


'.'  IIlSTOEY   OF   FoKT 

The  primitive  traces  and  early  evidences  of  barbaric  and  eivil- 
;/•••!  lift-  in  this  part  of  the  State  ot  Indiana,  are  many  and  various; 
:iiid  the  present  site  of  the  City  of  Fort  Wayne,  with  contiguous 
Idealities,  is  fully  and  fairly  entitled  to  HISTORIC  GROUND  ! 

situated  upon  a  point  of  land,  the  most  elevated  in  the  State, 
F«>rr  Wayne  is  very  appropriately  called  the  SUMMIT  CITY.  The 
general  face  of  the  country  surrounding  is  rolling  and  somewhat 
iiii'-ven.  with  here  and  there  a  considerable  promontory,  overlooking 
•  he  beautiful  streams  and  valleys  in  the  region.  With  strong 
impregnations  of  iron  and  sulphur,  the  .soil  is  variously  composed 
of  the  most  valuable  elements,  adhiirably  adapted  both  for  farming 
;iml  building  purposes, — consisting  of  the  loamy,  sandy,  clayey 
.qualities.  Kinl>u dying  much  of  the  romantic  and  picturesque  in 
nature,  the  surrounding  aspects  and  scenery  of  the  place  never  fail 
i ••  awaken  the  liveliest  admiration  and  curiosity  of  the  stranger; 
while  the  general  appearance  of  tfye  city,  itself,  at  the  present  pe- 
riod, with  its  numerous  iruit  and  shade  trees,  handsome  dwellings 
and  yards — beautiful  .shrubbery,  and  well  cultivated  gardens,  in 
>easoiis  of  verdure  and  ilowers,  is  ever  one  of  exceeding  pleasant- 
ness and  beauty,  alike  to  the  habitant  and  the  momentary  sojourner. 

From  a  very  early  period^  with  the  Indians,  it  was  a  "glorious 
gate  "  "  through  which  all  the  good  words  of"  their  "  chiefs  had  to 
pass  from  the  north  to  the  south,  and  from  the  east  to  the  west."* 
At  a  later  period  in  the  history  of  events  in  America — in  the  strug- 
gle between  barbarism  and  civilization — it  became  at  once  the 
pivotal  point  upon  which  the  most  important  relations  of  the 
eountry  turned,  both  for  the  advancing  civilization  ot  the  time  and 
i  he  barbaric  force  against  which  it  had  to  contend — THE  KEY,  IN 
\<  i,  TO  THE  (TREAT  NOKTHWKST! 

Early  occupied  as  a  military  point  of  great  importance,  alike  to 
;  lie  French,  the  English  and  our  own  Government,  each,  in  turn, 
establishing  and  maintaining  a  military  post  here,  as-  a  means  by 
which  to  attain  and  exercise  an  extended  control  over  the  destinies 
and  resources  of  the  new  world,  "questions  of  infinite  reach,  involv- 
ing dominion,  race,  language,  law  and  religion,  have  hung  upon 
i  lie  petty  display  of  military  power  at  the  junction  of  these  rivers."f 

Here  the  red  man  had  lived,  doubtless,'  for  centuries  before  th*; 
first  civili/ed  settlement  in  America  had  begun, — his  squaws  culti- 
vating the  ma/e  and  performing  the  common  hardships  of  life, 
while  he  hunted  the  buffalo  and  wild  game  of  the  forest  arid  prairie ; 

*  Lit'le  Turtle.  f  Jesse  L.  Williams,  Esq. 

AOTK:  Judge  Law,  in  his  intending  Address,  "The  Colonial  History  of  Vineenne*," 
IM.I.    page  10.  Bays:     "  It  is  a  singular  fact,  yet  no  !<•**  true,  that  the  Wabash  was 
knwn  nnd  navigated  by  the  whites  long  before  the  Ohio  wax  known  to  exi*t.     Indeed. 
.•11  Hi.-  maps— and  1  have  seen  two  b.-fore  the  year  178(1— call  the  Ohio  at  its  eonttu- 
.  noc  with  tin-  Mi^i-iippi.  •Oiiabuche.'     The.  reason  is  obvious,  wh<-u  one  rehVel->  tor  -i 
Igle  instant,  that  the  whole  course  of  travel  to  the  Mississippi  was  either  by  the  Illi 
MS  or  the  Wabash.     The  only  comniunieation  with  the  Micsisaippi  WAS  uv  T'HK  FBENCH 
M.  tlie  latter  part  of  the  i7th  and  early  in  the  18th  century,  and  was  from  the  Lake.*. 
I  M  pfMrt  and  the  H.ldier  weiv  th-  onl\-  travelers.     Thev  ascended  the  Matimec,  «ros«- 
eU  the  I'ortagc,  aud  descended  the  Wabash  to  this  Po?t  " 


THIS  POIXT  VISITED  BKFOUE  YixciixxKs.  .'! 

speared  the  fish  in  the  beautiful  streams  gliding  by;  leisurely  bask- 
ed in  the  sunshine;  devoted  himself  to  plays  and  games;  hud- 
dled about  the  wigwam  and  the  camp-fire;  or  went  Forth  to  secure 
'the  trophies  and  honors  of  war. 

Being  situated  at  the  head  and  terminus  of  two  considerable  streams, 
(the  St.  Joseph  and  Maumee),  the  one  flowing  from  the  region  of 
Lake  Michigan  and  the  other  into  Lake  Erie,  direct  from  and  into 
points  near  to  and  from  which  the  early  voyageurs,  missionaries, 
and  traders  sought  so  earnestly  to  extend  their  efforts  and  discov- 
eries— together  with  the  fact,  at  an  early  period,  of  a  strong  rela- 
tionship *  and  doubtless  frequent  intercourse  between,  the  tribes 
along  those  lakes  and  the  Mianiies  of  this  part  of  their  extended 
territory, — it  is  not  probable  that  this  point  could  have  long  escaped 
their  attention.  And,  as  will  be  seen  in  subsequent  pages,  there 
exists  the  strongest  evidence  that  the  early  French  missionaries, 
explorers  and  traders,  from  Canada,  had  visited  the  junction  of  these 
rivers  as  early  as  1680  to  16S2-'3 — and  the  probability  is  very 
strong  that  they  were  here  at  a  much  earlier  period. 

Judge  Law,  in  his  able  Address,  concerning  the  first  settlement 
of  Vincennes  by  the  French,  concludes  it  to  have  been  about  the 
year  1710  or  1711 ;  and  thinks  it  most  probable  in  lli'e  first  of  the 
two  years  mentioned,  "inasmuch,"  says  he,  "as  the  Fort  must  have 
been  built  and  garrisoned,  before  an  application  was  made  for  a 
missionary."  Now,  the  advantages  of  navigation,  the  nearness  of 
this  point  to  the  Lakes,  the  extensive  openings  of  this  region,f  and 
the  fame  it  seems  to  have  so  long  enjoyed  as  a  "glorious  gate,"  give 
to  it  a  claim  priori  to  that  o  f  the  establishment  of  a  Post  and  Mission 
at  Yincennes.  And  it  is  not  improbable,  that  a  temporary  mission 
was  established  here  before  or  soon  after  the  eventful  year  of  10 Si'. 
In  the  early  part  of  16SO,  LaSalle,  having  penetrated  the  west  to 
a  point,  which  is  now  known  as  Peoria,  111.,  where  lie  built  a  fori, 
which  he  called  Crevecceur,  (Broken  Heart,)  because  of  his  former 
misfortunes,  and  soon  finding  himself  without  supplies  and  neces- 
sary materials  for  the  completion  of  a  Vessel  he  had  then  begun  at 
thte  foot  of  Lake  Peoria,  in  the  month  of  March,  of  that  year,  deter- 
mining upon  a  plan  to  hasten  the  needed  supplies,,  with  but  three 
attendants,  he  s'et  out  a-foot  towards  Lake  Erie,  "following  along  the 
water-shed,  or  divide,  which  separates  the  streams  that  flow  into 
the  Ohio  river  from  those  which  flow  into  Lake  Erie,"  and  reached 

'The  Mascoutene,  says  Gallatifl,  dwelling  about  Lake  Michigan  were  a  branch  of 
the  Miarnies. 

•jThe  following,  from  the  '-daily  journal  of  Wayne's  campaign,"  will  show  the  a;>- 
]»eariince  of  this  point,  on  the  arrival  of  the  army  here,  in  1794: 

•'GAM?  MIAMI  VILLAGES,  I.TTK  SE^TKMBEK,  1794. — The  army  halted  on  thisgioumf 
;»t  5  o'clock,  p.  m.,  being  47  miles  from  Fort  Defiance  and  14  from  our  last  encampment  •. 
there  are  nearly  500  acres  of  cleared  land  lying  in  one  body  on  the  rivers  St.  Joseph, 
St.  Mary's  and  the  Miami;  Ihere  are  fine  points  of  land  contiguous  to  those  rivers  ad- 
joining The  cleared  land.  The  rivers  are  navigable  for  small  crafts  in  the  summer,  arid 
m  the  winter  there  is  water  sufficient  for  large  boats,  the  land  adjacent  fertile  and  wei  I 
Timbered,  attd  from  every  appeiminc-  it  has  been  one  of  the  largest  *&tl«nent*  made  by 


i  HIST-  I:Y  ..!•'  FoitT  WAYME. 

Ins  destination  in  safety ;  *  which  makes  it  quite  evident,  together 
with  the  i'act  of  his  having  spent  the  Autumn  of  1670  in  the  erection 
or  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph's  river,  sounding  the  chan- 
nel of  that  stream,  and  establihsmg  there  "  a  depot  for  supplies 
and  goods,"  that  he  \vns  by  no  means  unacquainted,  at  an  early 

••d  of  his  efforts,  with  this  region  of  the  north-west. 
The  reputed  rival  as  well  as  co-laborer  of  La  Salle,  Louis  Honnc- 
pin,  a  Franciscan  friar,  of  the  Recollect  variety,  and  said  to  have 
been  very  ambitious  as  a  discoverer,  as  also  daring,  hardy,  ener- 
getic, vfith  other  peculiarities  closely  allied  thereto,  as  early  as 
1003-4  speaks  of  the  ^Hohio,''  and  of  a  route  irom  the  Lakes 
(northern)  to  the  Mississippi  by  the  Wabasli,  the  account  of  which 
ho  liad  hoard,  and  which  was  explored  in  1070.  In  Ilennepin's 
volume  of  10S>8,  is  a  journal,  says  the  best  accounts,  ^aid  to  be  tha: 

•  by  La  Salle  to  Count  Frontenac,  in  1082  or  1083,  which  men- 
tions the  route  by  the  Maumce  and  Wabash  as  the  most  direct  to 
ihc  great  western  river,  (Mississippi;)!  which  makes  it  quite  evi- 
dent that  this  region  was  not  only  early  visited,  but  that  the  route  lead- 
ing through  this  immediate  vicinity,  was  often  very  early  traversed 
by  explorers,  missionaries  and  fur-traders.  And,  in  view  of  the 
navigable  streams  concentrating  at  this  point ;  the  vast  amount  of 
i';ir  that  must  annually  have  been  accummulated  here ;  the 

•t  number  of  Indians  dwelling  at  this  locality,  and  in  the  region, 
—that  these  adventurous  and  zealous  spirits  should  have  early 

cted  this  as  a  favorable  and  most  advantageous  site,  not  only 
('or  the  prosecution  of  the  labors  of  the  missionaiy  and  the  accumu- 
lation of  fur  by  the  trader,  but  for  the  early  establishment  of 
a  military  post,  seems  most  reasonable  indeed,  and  requires  but 
little  conjecture  to  arrive  at  a  somewhat  definite  conclusion  as  to 
the  truthfulness  of  the  question  considered. 

.Not  only  did  the  earliest  of  the  French  voyageurs  and  explorers 
consider  this  the  most  direct  route  to  the  great  western  river,  Missis- 
sippi, but  those  of  a  later  period  seem  to  have  universally  regarded 
the  route  by  the  Miami  or  Omee  villages,  at  this  point,  as  the  bosi. 
»S:iys  J.  W.  Dawson,  Esq.,  in  his  researches :  "By  reference  to  early 
history,  we  find  that,  in  17 10?  among  the  routes  of  travel  established 

:he  French,  was  one  from  the  head  of  Lake  Erie,  (now  Manhat- 
i:m,  or  its  more  successful  rival, Toledo,)  up  the  Maumee  river  to 
•the  sire  of  Fort  Wayne,  thence  by  portage  to  tho  head  of  Little 
i'ivor,  across  the  marsh  now  crossed  by  the  Toledo,  Wabash  an.L 
Wo.-.tern  railroad ;  thence  by  Little  River  to  the  Wabasli,  about  nine 
miles  below  Huntingdon ;  thence  down  the  Wabash  to  the  Ohio ;  and 
thence  to  the  Mississippi/'  And  as  late  a.s  1759  the  same  route  is 
I'avored.  Says  the  same  researches :  "  The  no?;t  interesting  referonc.' 
jo  Fort  Wayne,  is  in  1750.  juicl  advises  us  <a  a  most  distinguished 
expedition  lifted  out  by  M.  d'Aubry,  commandant  at.  Illinois.  T!i<- 

••  W<  -;.  i-n  /hinaK"  [>.•»£(•*  (J2  and  G'.\. 
..'"•  ;i!i<l  'IVrritorits  oftln-Civ 


BEST?  ItouiK  TO  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  5 

French  having;  exhausted  their  supplies  in  Pennsylvania,  and  unable 
to  withstand  the  British,  it  was  conceived  by  M.  d'Aubry  to  rein- 
force his  brethern.  Accordingly,  a  levey  of  400  men,  and  200,000 
Ibs.  of  flour  was  raised  at  Kaskaskia,*  and  started  from  there  to 
Venango,  Pa.  Ft.  Du  Quesne  (Pittsburgh,)  was  abandoned,  and 
hence  the  reinforcement  could  not  go  thence  by  the  Ohio  river. 
So  ho  proceeded  with  his  force  down  to  the  Mississippi;  thence 
down  that  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  ;  then  up  the  Ohio  to  thp 
mouth  of  Wabash ;  then  up  the  Wabash,  to  the  mouth  of  Little 
River  ;  then  up  that  stream  to  the  portage  ;  and  then  to  Ft.  Miami, 
(Ft.  Wayne,)  where  they  embarked  stores  and  all  on  the  Maumec ; 
then  down  the  Maumee  and  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie  to  Pres- 
que'Isle ;  then  across  the  portage  to  Le  Boeuff ;  then  down  Frencl^ 
Creek,  to  Venango,  Pa." 

From  the  founding,  by  the  French,  of  the  city  of  Quebec,  in 
Canada,  in  1608,  to  17G3,  for  a  period  of  more  than  one  hundred 
und  fifty  years,  the  governments  of  France  and  Great  Britain, 
(the  latter  having  begun  a  settlement  at  Jamestown,  in  Virginia,  as 
early  as  1607,)  were  most  energetic  and  resolute  rivals  in  many 
civil,  military,  and  often  sanguinary  contests  as  to  territorial  limits 
colonel  establishments,  and  the  general  trade  and  commerce  of  the 
new  world  of  North  America.]'" 

In  1634,  the  missionaries,  Brebocuf  and  Daniel,  joining  a  party 
.of  Hurons,  on  their  return  from  Quebec,  after  crossing  the  Ottpwn 
river,  established  a  mission  near  a  bay  of  Lake  Huron,  where  they 
are  said  daily  to  havo  rang  a  bell,  calling  the  natives  of  the  region 
to  prayer,  and  who  also  "  performed  all  those  kindly  offices  which 
were  calculated  to  secure  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  tribes 
on  the  Lake  shores." 

As  early  as  1670,  Great  Britain  had  established,  at  different 
points,  between  the  32d  and  45th  degrees  of  north  latitude,  as 
many  as  nine  colonial  settlements  in  America;  and  it  was  not  until 
about  eighty  years  later  that  the  English  began  to  make  any  eflbrc 
towards  a  settlement  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains. 

In  1670,  the  French  colonists  in  America  had  persevered  in  the 
extension  of  their  settlements  to  the  v/estwnrd  from  Quebec,  on  tho 
shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  borders  of  lakes  Ontario  and 
Erie;  and  their  missionaries  and  traders  had  succeeded  in  explor- 
ing the  bordering  regions  of  the  northern  lakes,  to  the  west,  as  far  as 
Lake  Superior ;  and  stations,  with  a  view  to  the  Christianization  of 
the  Indians,  were  established  at  several  points,  among  a  number  of 
Indian  tribes.  To  give  protection  and  impetus  to  the  fur  trade, 
then  coming  to  be  very  extensive  in  its  operations,  a  number  of 

*That  this  point  v.-as  visited  before  the  establishment  of  settlements  at  Ka?k:i~ki;v 
si  ml  Kahokiu,  or  other  points  vcst'.vard,  seems  to  lie  .creiu-rallv  admitted  by  all  the  itu*'.. 
authenic  historical  resFurchts  that  the  writer  lias  had  occasion  to  refer  1o. 

tFor  a  more  extended  summary  of  t;n:-.-o  early  perio'l*.  see  r>;incroiVs  llKiury  of  I'. 
S..  Dillon V  Hi.story  of  Indiana,  Parkmarf*  Coiisuhv.cv  of  Po.ai.Lae,  Sparks's  Life  01  L» 
Salle,Vol.l,Wn  series,  do.  Life  of  Ma,,  ;.,: 


T,  lllslOliY    OF   FOKT 

stockade  forts  and  trading  posts  were  also  erected  at  various  points 
Lest  suited  for  such  establishments. 

A  little  miiiutia  as  to  the  efforts,  trials,  and  disappointments  of 
these  primitive  missionaries  apd  others,  in  connection  with  other 
iM.ints,  will  here  be  of  interest  to  the  reader,  and  tend  to  open  a 
more  extended  view  of  the  relations  that  surrounded,  and,  at  an. 
early  period,  evidently  influenced,  the  destipy  of  the  present  situa,- 
t ion  and  historic  importance  of  the  City  of  Fort  Wayne. 

At  the  period  I  now  refer,  Charles  II.  was  King  of  England, 
ami  Louis  XIV, — purported  to  have  been  a  most  ambitious  man, — 
was  monarch  of  the  French.  A  statesman  of  considerable  ability, 
<>i'  the  name  of  Colbert,  was  minister  of  Finances  to  the  latter,  who 
is  said  to  have  inspirited  the  colonists  of  Canada  with  an  arduous 
•wish  to  widen  their  domain,  as  well  as  to  increase  the  power  of  the 
French  monarch.  Thus  animated  and  impelled,  with  the  hope  o£ 
cnjoyipg  the  advantages  and  means  of  Christian  civilization  thought 
necessary  to  be  exerted  over  the  various  Indian  tribes  of  the  west,  at 
that  early  period,  the  civil  and  religious  authorities  of  Canada  were 
constrained  "to  engage  earnestly  in  the  support  of  the  policy  of  in- 
creasing the  number  and  strength  of  the  forts,  trading-posts  and 
missionary  stations  in  the  vast  regions  lying  on  the  borders  of  tho 
rivers  and  lakes  between  Quebec  and  the  head  of  Lake  Superior.** 

At  this  early  period,  the  French  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authori- 
ties of  Canada,  having  given  considerable  life  to  renewed  action 
among  the  missionaries,  "in  the  course  of  the  years  1.670,  1671  ^nd 
1072,  says  Dillon,  in  his  researches,  "  the  missionaries,  Claucle  Al- 
louex  and  Claude  Dablon,  explored  the  easternpnrt  of  TVisconsin, 
the  north-eastern  portion  pf  Illinois,  and,  probably  visited  that  part 
of  Indiana  which  lies  north  of  the  river  Kankakee.  In  the  follow- 
ing year,  M.  Joliet,  an  agent  of  the  French  colonial  Government, 
and  James  Marquette,  a  good  and  simple-hearted  missionary,  who 
had  his  station  at  Mackinaw,  explored  the  country  lying  about  tho 
.shores  of  Green  Bay,  and  on  the  borders  oif  Fox  River,  and  the  river 
\Visconsin,  as  far  westward  as  the  river  Mississippi,  the  banks  of 
which  they  reached  on  the  17th.  day  June  1672."  In  the  following 
month,  on  the  1 7th, many  obstacles  presenting  themselves,  they  set 
out  on  their  return  to  Canada,  by  way  of  the  Illinois  river,  and 
arrived  at  Green  Bay,  an  outlet  of  Lake  Michigan,  in  the  latter 
part  oi'  the  mouth  of  September,  a  distance  of  some  2.500  miles, — 
At  a  village  of  the  Illinois  Indians,  it  is  related,  they  were  feasted 
in  a  most  friendly  and  hospitable  manner,  upon  the  choicest  food  oi 
tin-  tribe,  consisting  of  roast  buffalo,  lish,  hominy  and  dog  meat. 

I  Jut  the  curiosity  and  desires  of  the  French  colonists  in  Canada 
did  not  cease  with  the  return  of  the  missionaries.  In  the  early  part 
df  10S2,  Robert  Cavalier  de  LaSalle,  with  a  small  exploring  party, 
made  his  way  to  the  Illinois,  and  passed  down  that  stream  to  the 
M-'^rssippi,  thence  continuing  his  voyage, — with  short  stoppages 
"  and  there  at  the  presentation  of  the  friendly  calumet  or  attar1/ 


AKCIEXT  TEKKITOKY  OF  THE  MIAMIES.  7 

from  the  shore  by  unfriendly  Indians,  etc., — to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
where,  on  the  9th  of  April,  lG82,they  erected  a  column  and  cross, 
attaching  thereto  the  arms  of  France,  with  the  following  inscription: 
"Louis  the  Great,  King  of  trance,  and  Navarre,  reigns — the  9tb 
of  April,  16821."  All  being  under  arms,  after  chanting  the  Tc 
.Deurn,  they  tired  their  muskets  in  lionor  of  the  event,  and  made  the 
air  to  reverberate  with  the  shouts  o'f  "Long  live  the  I£ing !  "  at  once 
taking  formal  possession  of  the  ent'ire  country,  to  which  tjiey  gave 
the  name  of  Louiziane,  in  honor  of  their  King. 

Soon  alter  this  event,  La  Salle  and  his  party  returned  to  Canada, 
whither  he  soon  after  went  to  France,  where  he  was  received  with 
much  favor  by  the  King,  and  the  account  of  his  and  those  of  Joliet 
and  Marquette's  discoveries  were  made  known.  And  thus  it  was 
that  Louis  the  14th  of  France  at  once  laid  claim  to  the  whole  of 
the  soil  lying  between  Canada  and  New  Mexico,*  disregarding  all 
prior  or  subsequent  claims  set  up  by  Spain,  by  reason  of  the  dis- 
coveries of  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  in  1512,  and  Ilernando  de  Soto, 
during  the  years  1538  and  1542.' 

Not  long  subsequent  to  the  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mis-* 
sissippi,  the  French  government  began  to  encourage  the  establish- 
ment of  a  line  of  trading  posts  and  missionary  stations  in  the 
country  west  uf  the  Allegheny  mountains',  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  which  policy  they  seem  to  have  sustained  with  moder- 
ate success  during  a  period  of  some  seventy-five  years.  Tho 
greater  part  of  this  long  period  of  time,  a  few  missionaries  pursued 
their  labors,  but  with  no  lasting  or  general  beneticial  results,  in  so 
far,  at  least,  as  their  efforts  related  to  the  Indians  of  the  west. 

In  1679,  the  same  day  that  La  Salle  completed  the  erection  of  ;i 
fort  at  its  mouth,  the  river  St.  Joseph,  of  Lake  Michigan,  received 
the  name  of  "  the  River  Miamies,"  from  the  Indians  of  that  name; 
and  it  was  on  the  banks  of  this  river  that  the  principal  station  lor 
the  instruction  of  the  Miainies  was  founded,  about  that  period ; 
after  which  it  was  called  "  the  St.  Joseph,  of  Lake  Michigan.'7 

Hennepin  thus  gave  the  account  of  the  erection  of  the  first 
French  post  within  the  territory!  of  the  MiamiesJ  in  1679 : 

*  After  wards,  for  many  years,  called  NEW  FRAXCK. 

tLittle  Turtle,  the  distinguished  chief  of  the  Miarnies,  who  lived  here  for  many  vear* 
with  his  tribe,  and  died  here  in  1812,  at  the  famous  treaty  of  Greenville,  (O.),  1795, 
thus,  in  part,  addressed  General  Wayne  regarding  the  territory  of  his  people:  "  You 
have  pointed  out  to  us  the  boundary  line  between  the  Indians  and  the  United  States  ; 
but  I  now  take  the  liberty  to  inform  you  that  that  line  cute  off  from  the  Indians  a  larg.; 
portion  of  country  which  has  been  enjoyed  by  niy  forefathers  from  time  immemorial, 
•without  mclestati'on  or  dispute.  The  print  of  iny  ancestors' houses  aiv  everywhere  t<» 
be  seen  in  this  portion.  f  *  *  *  It  is  well  known  by  all  my  brothers 
present,  that  my  forefather  kindled  the  first  fire  at  Detroit :  from  thence  he  extended  his 
lines  to  the  headwaters  of  Scioto;  from  thence  to  its  mouth  ;  from  thence  to  Chicago, 
cm  Lake  Michigan."  From  the  earliest  period  we  have  of  them,  the  Miamies  havo 
been  a  leading  and  most  powerful  tribe. 

J"  When  the  Mianns  were  first  invitvd  by  the  French  authorities  at  Chicago,  in 
1G70,"  says  Mr.  (Jhas.  B.  Lasselle,  in  one  of  his  interesting  sketches,  relating  tothx-  e.v.rly 
hmtorv  of  Fort  Wayne,  "they  were  a  very  powerful  Indian  nation.  A  bodv  *>f  them 
assembled  near  that  place  for  war  against  the  powerful  Iroquis,  (Five  Nations) ,  of  the 
Hudson,  aad  the  still  more  powerful  Sioux,  ot  the  Upper  Mississippi,  consisted  of  at. 


of  i<'oiM'  \VAYKE, 

"  Just  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Miamis  there  was  an  eminence 
with  a  kind  of  platform  naturally  fortified.  It  was  pretty  high  ami 
steep,  of  a  'triangular  form — defended  on  two  sides  by  the  river, 
:iinl  on  the  other  by  a  deep  ditch,  which  the  fall  of  the  water  had 
made.  We  felled  the  trees  that  were  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  and 
having  cleared  the  same  from  bushes  for  about  two  musket  shot, 
we  began  to  build  a  redoubt  of  eighty  feet  long,  and  forty  teet 
broad,  with  great  square  pieces  of  timber,  laid  one  upon  another ; 
:md  prepared  a  great  number  of  stakes,  of  about  twenty- five  feet 
l'»ng,  to  drive  into  the  ground  to  make  our  fort  the  more  iuaccessi- 
ble  on  the  river  side.  We  employed  the  whole  month  of  November 
(1769)  about -that  work,  which  was  very  hard,  though  we  had  no 
other  food  but  the  bear's  flesh  our  savage  killed.  These  beasts  are 
very  common  in  that  place,  because  of  the  great  quantity  of  grapes 
ihat  abound  there;  but  their  flesh  being  too  fat  and  luscious,  our 
men  began  to  be  weary  of  it,  and  desired  leave,  to  go  a  hunting 
and  kill  some  wild  goats.  M.  La  Salle  denied  them  that  liberty, 
which  caused  some  murmurs  among  them  ;  and  it  was  but  unwil- 
lingly that  they  continued  the  work.  This,  together  with  the  ap- 
proach of  the  winter,  and  the  apprehension  that  M.  La  Sallo  had 
that  his  vessel  (the  Griffin)  was  lost,  made  him  very  melancholy, 
though  he  concealed  it  as  much  as  he  could.  "We  made  a  cabin 
wherein  we  performed  divine  service  every  Sunday;  and  father 
<iabrieland  1,  who  preached  alternately,  took  care  to  take  such 
texts  as  were  suitable  to  our  present  circumstances,  and  fit  to  inspire 
us  with  courage,  concord  and  brotherly  love.  *  *  *  *  This 
fort  was  at  last  perfected,  and  called  Fort  Miamis." 

This  same  missionary,  Hennepin,  in  1G80,  visiting  some  of  the 
Indian  villages  on  the  Illinois  river,  speaks  thus  of  the  peculiar 
Hens  and  manners  of  the  savages  he  met  there  at  that  early  period  ; 
which  must  give  the  reader  to  infer  that,  though  the  natives  of  the 
forest,  in  their  unlittored Bt&te,  had  but  a  poor  sense  of  the  Christi- 
anity taught  by  the  missionaries  of  the  time,  they  yet  possessed  a 
singular  intelligence  regarding  life  and  the  religious  nature  of  man  ; 
and  were,  withal,  strangely  liberal  in  their  views  and  actions  toward 

l.-a*t  three  thousand,  and  wore  under  the  head  of  n  chieftain  who  never  sallied  forth 

luit  with  a  body-CB«rd  of  forty  warriors.     He  could  at  any  tfme  lead  into  the  field  an 

;irmy  of  five  thousand   im-n."     Of  all  their  villages,"  says  he,  "Ke-ki-ong  a  wasroi:- 

Md<-ivd  hy  the  Miamis  tin-  m<«t  important,  as  it.  was  the  largest  and  most  ventral  of  alt 

ili.-i--  pOMMOU— bting  situated    near  the    head    waters   of  the  Walmsh,  tin,  Miami, 

Muiim..-. .  and  ili.'  St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan."     Sa\s  Ham-rot!:     "The-  Miamis  was 

the  nu»i  powerful  confederacy  of  the  west,  excelling  the  Six  Nations,   (Iroquoi*.) 

Their   influence  reached  to  the    Mississippi,  and  they   rcceiv-'! 

frequent  visits  trom  trilx>s  l>evond  that  river."  Asth<-  messenger  "f  St. "dair,  An- 
ton, c  Uamelin,  in  the  spring  of  1790, proceeded  from  Vincennes  toward  this  point. 
with  a  view  to  friendly  relations  with  the  Indian.*,  he  was  told  at  the  different  village.--. 
ua  hi* 'route  to  goto  Kc-kt-ong-a,  "You  know."  .-aid  ih*y,  "that  w«  can  terminate 

nothing  without  the i?mt  of  our  brothers,  the  Miamies."     •'Thcimpnv-  of  it;;  name," 

•;i\>  .Mr.  V\  illiams.  of  our  oily,  "upon  so  many  westi-i  n  rivers,  shows!  lie  predominant^ 
.•I  the  tribe.     Thotwo    Miami. -s  of  the  Ohio  '\\ill  over  iiorpttualt}  it.     The  Miami  of 
I.  ;iU-  •  J!ri.-  (now  Mauuicf ',  \\  as  likewise  named  for  the  tribi-.         *         *         *         * 
O.ur  own 6t*  Mary '•  WM  marked  •  Miamies'  river,'  on  the  rude  skeleton  map,  mad<- to 
.    ihc  wiateru  cminlry  at  the  time  of  Colonel  Bouquet^  cxpodiiion  in  17t»3." 


ACCQUNT.  1) 

those  differing  from  thorn.  But  the  Indian  was,  a  rude  child  of 
nature — born  in  the  woods,  with  the  great  spirit  of  the  forest  deeply 
impressed  upon  his  soul.  He  had  ever  seen  the  Great  .Father 

"  la  clouds,  and  heard  him  iu  the -win {Is." 

Says  Hennepin : — "There  were  many  obstacles  that  hindered  the 
conversion  of  the  savages,  but  in  general  the  difficulty  proceeds  from 
the  indifference  they  have  to  every  thing.  When  one  speaks  to 
them  ot  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  of  the  mysteries  of  tho 
Christian  religion,  they  say  we  have  reason;  and  they  applaud,  in 
general,  all  that  we  say  on  the  great  affair  of  our  salvation.  They 
woulc1  think  themselves  guilty  of  a  great  incivility,  if  they  should 
show  the  least  suspicion  ot  incredulity,  in  respect  to  what  is  proposed. 
But,  after  having  approved  all  the  discourses  upon  these  matters, 
they  pretend,  likewise,  on  their  side,  that  we  ought  to  pay  all  possible 
deii'crence  to  the  relations  and  reasonings  that  they  may  make  on 
their  part.  And  when  we  make  answer  that  what  they  tell  us  is  false, 
1  hey  reply  that  they  have  acquiesced  to  all  that  we  said  ;  and  that  it 
is  a  want  of  judgement  to  interrupt  a  man  that  speaks,  and  to  tell 
him  that  he  advances  a  false  proposition.  *  *  *  The  second 
obstacle  which  hinders  their  conversion,  proceeds  from  their  great 
superstition.  *  *  *  The  third  obstacle  consists  in  this, — 
that  they  are  not  fixed  to  a  place.  * 

The  traders  who  deal  commonly  with  the  savages,  with  a  design  to 
gain  by  their  traffic,  are  likewise  another  obstacle.  *  *  *  They 
think  of  nothing  but  cheating  and  lying  to  become  rich  in  a  short 
time.  They  use  all  manner  of  stratagems  to  get  the  furs  of  tho 
savages  cheap.  They  make  use  of  lies  and  cheats  to  gain  double, 
if  they  can.  This,  without  doubt,  causes  an  aversion  Against  a  relig- 
ion which  they  see  accompanied,  by  the  professors  of  it,  with  so 
many  artifices,  and  cheats.  Continues  the  same  missionary,  ''•the 
Illinois  ( Indians )  will  readily  suffer  us  to  baptise  their  children,  and 
would  not  refuse  it  themselves;  but  they  are  incapable  of  any  pre- 
vious instruction  concerning  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  efficacy 
of  the  sacraments.  Would  I  follow  the  example  of  some  other  mis- 
sionaries, I  could  have  boasted  of  many  conversions ;  for  1  might 
easily  have  baptised  all  those  nations,  and  then  say,  (as  Tani  afraid 
they  do,  without  any  ground, )  that  I  had  converted  them.  *  *  v' 
Our  ancient  missionary  recollects  of  Canada^,  and  those  that  sue- ' 
ceeded  them  in  that  work,  have  always  given  it  for  their  opinion,  as  I 
now  own  it  as  mine,  that  the  way  to  succeed  in  converting  the  bar- 
barians, is  to  endeavor  to  make  them  men,  before  we  go  about  to 
make  them  Christians.  *  *  *  America  is  no  place  to  go  to  out  of  a, 
desire  to  suffer  martyrdom,  taking  the  word  in  a  theological  sense. 
The  savages  never  put  any  Christian  to  death  on  the  score  of  his 
religion.  They  leave  everybody  at  liberty  in  belief;  they  like  tho 
outward  ceremonies  of  our  church,  but  no  more.  *  *  They 

do  not  kill  people  but  in  particular  quarrels,  or  when  they  are  bru- 
tish or  drunk,  or  in  revenge,  or  infatuated  with  a  dream,  or  some 


10  HISTOKY,OF  FOIST  WAYNE. 

extravagant  vision.  They  ar*>  incapable  of  taking  away  any  person's 
life  out  of  hatred  to  his  religiQ.fi." 

The  best  accounts  agree  thattf  was  through  the  agency  and  perse- 
vering exertions  of  missionaries,  combined  with  the  active  and  enter- 
prising movements  of  traders,  that  amicable  relations  and  a  moder- 
ate trade  were  brought  about  between  the  colonists  of  Canada  and  the 
Miami  Indians — which  occurred  before  the  end  of  the  17th  century. 

M.  de  la  Barre,  governor-general  of  Canada,  in  1684,  in  a  re- 
monstrance to  the  English  authorities,  at  Albany,  complained  that 
the  Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations,  (a  league  of  friendship  between  whom 
and  the  English,  it  was  understood,  then  existed,)  had  been  inter- 
meddling with  the  rights  and  property  of  French  traders  among 
the  western  tribes.  To  which  the  Iroquois,  upon  learning  of  this 
remonstrance,  saitf  their  enemies  were  furnished  with  arms  and 
ammunition  by  the  French  traders ;  and,  at  a  subsequent  council,  held 
by  M.  de  la  Barre  with  the  Five  Nations, he  accused  the  Iroquois, 
iSenecas,  Cayugas,  Onondagas,  Oneidas,and  Mohawks,  with  ha' vim; 
mistreated  and  robbed  French  traders  going  westward.  To  which 
Grangula,  chief  of  the  Onondagas,  replied  that  they  plundered  none 
uf  the  French,  excepting  those  who  took  guns,  powder,  and  balls 
to  the  Twightwees,  (  or  Mianiis  )  and  Chicktaghicks.  "•  These  arms, '' 
said  he,"  might  have  cost  us  our  lives.  We  have  done  less  wrong,  " 
rontinued  he,  in  a  spirit  of  upbraiding,  "  than  either  the  English  or 
French,  who  have  taken  the  lands  of  so  many  Indian  nations." 

In  this  we  have  much  of  the  true  spirit  and  trials  of  those  times, 
which  will  be  found  more  in  detail  in  many  of  the  prominent  histo- 
ries relating  to  colonial  and  subsequent  periods.  But  the  intima- 
tions of  the  chief  Grangula  would  seem  to  have  been  a  forerunner 
of  further  and  still  more  extended  troubles  between  the  French  and 
the  Five  Nations;  *  for,  from  1689  to  the  treaty  of  Kyswick, in  1697, 
wars  and  conflicts,  of  an  almost  interminable  nature,  occur- 
red between  the  French  colonists  and  the  Five  Nations,  which, 
it  is  presumed,  tended,  in  a  large  degree,  to  check  the  ambitious 
and  grasping  policy  of  Louis  XIV,  and  also  to  prevent  and  retard 
the  settlement  of  the  French  colonists  in  the  Mississippi  valley. 

Some  time  during  the  years  1680  and  1700,  a  number  of  mission- 
aeries,  in  succession,  used  strong  endeavors  to  Christianize  and  other- 
wise instruct  the  Illinois  tribes  ;  and  historical  records  state  that  a 
church,  consisting  of  a*6mall  number  of  French,  with  a  few  Indians, 
was  established  on  the  banks  of  the  Illinois  river,  at'  or  near 
the  site  of  a  fort  called  St.  Louis,  and  founded  by  La  Salle  at  an  ear- 
lier period. 

The  traders  began  early  to  form  matrimonial  alliances  with  the 
Indian  women,  and  are  said  to  have  lived  quit*?  amicably  with  them. 

Attracted  by  a  sense  of  beauty,  and  with  a  view  to  enterprise  in 


EAKLY  Jba*E.Nc«  JSETTLKMEXTS.  11 

tlie  accumulation  of  furs,  a  small  body  of  French  adventurers,  from 
the  Illinois,  near  the  close  of  the  17th  century,  moved  toward  and 
settled  upon  the  borders  of  the  Kaskaskia,  a  small  river  emptying' 
into  the  Mississippi,  about  one  hundred  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio,  where  they  founded  the  little  village  of  Kaskaskia. 

Among  the  first  movements  of  the  French  in  an  effort  to  extend 
dominion  over  their  western  dependencies,  from  Canada,  during 
the  seventeenth  century,  were  the  establishment  of  small  settle- 
ments at  Detroit  and  Michilimackinac,  while  many  are  said  to 
have  given  themselves  up  wholly  to  a  life  of  adventure,  rambling 
here  and  there,  as  their  inclinations  and  necessities  impelled  them, 
among  the  different  tribes  "  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio." 

Among  these  adventurous  spirits,  were  to  be  found  several  quite 
intelligent,  as  well  as  enterprising  and  ambitious  men,  who  lived 
in  daily  hopes  of  realizing  immense  "  profits  and  advantages  from  the 
prosecution  of  the  fur  trade."  "This  trade,"  says  Dillon,  in  his 
interesting  researches,  "was  carried  on  by  means  of  men  *  who  were 
hired  to  manage  small  vessels  on  the  lakes,  and  canoes  along  the 
shores  of  the  lakes,  and  on  the  rivers,  and  to  carry  burdens  of  mer- 
chandise from  the  different  trading  posts  to  the  principle  villages  of 
the  Indians  who  were  at  peace  with  the  French.  At  those  places 
the  traders  exchanged  their  wares  for  valuable  furs,  with  which  they 
returned  to  the  places  of  deposit.  The  articles  of  merchandise  used 
by  the  French  traders  in  carrying  on  the  fur  trade,  were,  chiefly, 
coarse  blue  and  red  cloths,  fine  scarlet,  guns,  powder,  balls,  knives, 
hatchets,  traps,  kettles,  hoes,  blankets,  coarse  cottons,  ribbons, 
beads,  vermillion,  tobacco,  spirituous  liquors,  etc.  The  poorest  class 
of  fur  traders  sometimes  carried  their  packs  of  merchandise,  by  means 
of  leather  straps  suspended  from  their  shoulders,  or  with  the 
straps  resting  against  their  foreheads.  It  is  probable  that  some 
of  the  Indian  villages  on  the  borders  of  the  "Wabash  were  visited  by 
a  few  of  this  class  of  traders  before  the  French  founded  a  settle- 
ment at  Kaskaskia.  It  has  been  intimated,  conjecturally,  by  a  learned 
writer,  ( Bishop  Brute  ),  that  missionaries  and  traders,  before  the 
close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  passed  down  from  the  river  St. 
Joseph, '  left  the  Kankakee  to  the  west,  and  visited  the  Tippeeanoe, 
the  Eel  river,  and  the  upper  parts  of  the  Wabash. ' ' 

"  The  Miami  villages, "  continues  the  same  researches,  "  which 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  river  Maumee,  the  Wea  villages,  which  were 
situated  about  Ouiatenon,  on  the  Wabash  river,  and  the  Piankeshaw 
villages  which  stood  on  and  about  the  site  of  Vincennes,  were,  it 
seems,  regarded  by  the  early  French  fur  traders  as  suitable  places 
for  the  establishing  of  trading-posts.  It  is  probable,  that,  before  the 
•  •lose  of  the  year  1719,  temporary  trading-posts  were  erected  at  the 
nites  of  Ft.  Wayne,  Ouiatenon,  and  Vincennes.  These  points  had,  it 
is  believed,  been  often  visited  by  traders  before  the  year  1700." 

During  the  year  1733,  an  affray  having  occurred  "  between  some 

*  ('ailed  by  the  French  noyctffcwa,    enjayi-et,  and  courcurs  des  bdin. 


VJ  HLSTOKV  OK  FOKT  WAY.NK. 

drunken  young  Ouiatenons  and  two  or  three  French  voyageurs,  in  an 
affair  of  trade^"  M.  deArmand,  with  a  small  body  of  militia,  was 
ordered  to  make  an  attack  upon  the  Ouiatcnons ;  but,  soon  after  his 
arrival  at  the  Miami  village  here,  was  persuaded  to  forego,  his 
intentions  upon  that  tribe,  and  a  friendly  intercourse  was  soon 
re-established  between  the  French  and  the  Oniatenons,  whose  villa- 
ges were  near  the  present  site  of  Lafayette,  in  this  State. 

The  latc.Judge  Hanna,  our  esteemed  fellow-citizens,  Hon.  J.  AV. 
liorden  a*nd  J.  L.  "Williams,  Esq.,  in  their  interesting  sketches  of  Fort 
AVaync,  all  make  mention  of  a  small  French  fort  that  was  early 
rnvtcd  on  the  south  bank  of  the  St.  Mary,  not  far  from  the  canal 
acqueduct,  and  near  the  residence  of  Judge  McCulloch.  The  histor- 
ical account  of  this  fort  is,  that,  as  early  as  1734:,  the  famous  Captain 
D.  M.  D'Vincennes,  founder  of  Vinccnnes,  Ind.,  visited  this  point  in 
a  military  capacity,  and  erected  the  fort  in  question;  and  Vinccnnrs 
is  said  then  to  have  referred  to  this  locality  as  "  the  key  of  the  west.'' 
How  long  this  fort  remained  or  was  garrisoned  by  the  French,  it  is 
now  unknown. 

Two  years  later,  in  173G,  by  order  of  his  superior  officer  at  New 
<  hloaris,  Monsieur  d'Artaguette,  "  commandant  for  the  King  in  Illi- 
nois,*' Captain  Vincennes  (  or,'  as  originally  spelt,  Vinsenne.)  left  his 
post  at  Vincennes  with  an  expedition  against  the  Chicuasaws.  In  a. 
charge  against  this  tribe  of  Indians,  with  a  small  body  of  French, 
aided  by  about  1000  friendly  Indians,  Vincennes  received  a  severe 
wound,  and  fell  soon  after,  and  because  of  which,  his  Indian  allies 
iiframo  disheartened  and  lied,  leaving  Vincennes,  D'Artagueitc, 
and  the  Jeeuit,  Senat,  at  the  mercy  of  the  savage  foe ;  and  on  the  31st 
of  May,  1736,  the  three  prisoners  were  lashed  to  the  stake  andbnrn- 
y  their  wily  captor.s. 

Yiwennes  had  visited  the  Miamies  at  this  point  as  early  as  1705. 
M.  do  Vaudreuillc,  at  that  period  Governor-general  of  Canada,  in  :i 

*  NOTE. — Tt  will  readily  be  seen  by  the  reader,  that,  at,  this  early  period  of  the  history 
of  our  country,  the  west,  beginning,  as  we  may  say.  with  the  Alleghanics,  and  beyond, 
and  extending  tothe  borders  of  Mexico,  was  an  interminable  forest,  broken  only  by  lakes'., 
water  courses,  and  prairie  regions  ;  and  every  point,  in  a  general  sense,  was  afike  a  point, 
of  relationship  and  interest  to  the  other;  while  this,  more  especially,  both  to  the  Indians 
and  to  the  whites,  was,  In-yon  d  doubt,  very  early  the  key  to  tin-  north-wc*!..  As  will  t»- 
in  Biilttsequent  pages,  there  was  no  point  looked  upon  with  greater  interest,  or  which 
wns  more  beloved  or  inure  resolutely  uud  jealously  defended  by  the  red  iiian.ngainstany 
encroachment  of  a  war-like  nature,  from  the  first  efforts  of  the  formidable  Iroquois,  or 
Vive  Nations,  of  the  east,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  17th  century,  to  the  strenuous  effort*  •  -,' 
Hurmar.  St.  Clair,  Wayne,  and  Harrison;  or  wliieli  was  more  eagerly  sought  to  be  reached 
and  held  by  the  whites,  than  the  ancient,  site  of  the  present  populous  city  of  Fort  Warn-. 
tn  considering  its  history,  therefore,  from  the  earliest  known  period,  u|>  to  the  straggles 
of  1812-1  I,  it  is  found  at  once  connected,  in  some  way,  with  every  important  mov 
made  in  the  north-west ;  and  instead  of  forming  an  extensive  Appendix,  the  connecting 
linl-s  a iv  preserved  in  future  chapters  by  the  interweaving  of  the  general  events  of  the 
'i. .rili -west  with  those  more  directly  transpiring  at  this  point,  fr::in  the  early  efforts  of 
l.:iS:il!«  to  discov  --i--i|>jii,  to  tin;  la'...-;  pcrio, i  of  warfare,  etc.,  with  the  Indians 

ni'  the  west.    And  in  t!m<  blending  the  early  and  general  evente  of  the  country,  for  a  long 
i .-  riod  of  year*,  at  once  so  intimately  connected  with  tin-history  ofFort  Wayne, — j,;- 
in?  valuHide  data,  o»»  well  &*,  in  many  instances,  presenting  the  most  important  outline* 
ge«,  marches,  etc.,  the  volume  readily   n^umes  a  more   interestisjo-   and   valuable 
charm< 


CAPTAIN  D'YIXCEXXKS.  13 

letter  dated  "  Quebec,  10th  October,  1705,  "  said  he  had  "sent  Sieur 
de  Vinseine  to  the  Miamis."  Another  letter,  written  by  M.  do 
Pontchartraiu,  to  M.  de  Vaudreuille,  bearing-  date  "  Versailes,  Otli 
June,  1706,"  said:  "His  Majesty  approves  your  sending  Sieur 
Jonqueres  to  the  Iroquois,  because  he  is  esteemed  by  them,  and  haw 
not  the  reputation  of  a  trader;  but  you  ought  not  to  have  sent  Sieur 
de  Vincennes  to  the  Miamis,  nor  Sieur  de  Louvigny  to  the  Missili- 
maquina,  as  they  are  all  accused  of  carrying  on  contraband  trade. 
You  are  aware' that  the  said  Sieur  de  Louvigny  has  been  punished 
for  that ;  and  his  Majesty  desires  that  you  cause  Sieur  de  Vincennes 
to  be  severely  punished — he  having  carried  on  an  open  and  undis- 
guised trade. "  In  a  letter  from  M.  de  Vaudreuille  to  M.  de  Pontchar- 
train,  dated  Nov.  6,1712,  the  former  says  he,  "  had  again  sent  Sieur 
do  V incennes  to  the  Miami 3. "  In  1719,  M.  de  Vincennes  was  report- 
ed to  M.  de  Vaudreuille  as  having  died  at  the  Miami  village  here ; 
but  this  was  a  mistake,  or  it  was  another  officer  of  that  name.  It 
was  about  this  period  that  the  French  made  some  unsuccessful  efforts 
to  induce  the  Miamis  to  remove  from  their  old  homes  here  towards 
Lake  Michigan,  or  "  to  the  river  St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan." 

The  fort  that  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the  St.  Joseph,  was  early 
known  as  the  English  Fort,  which  was  occupied  by  ia  small  garrison 
of  English  troops  subsequent  to  the  overthrow  of  French  rule  in 
Canada,  in  1760, — perhaps  as  early  as  1762  ;  though  the  writer  has 
been  unable  to  gat-net  any  positive  evidence  that  this  stockade  was 
built  Ijy  the  English.  All  the  accounts  I  have  of  its  early  occupa- 
tion lead  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  "  taken  possession  of  by  the 
English"  soon  after  the  close  of  the  struggles  in  Canada  in  1760; 
Gen.  TVayne  traced  both  of  these  forts  while  here,  in  1794  ;  and  Col. 
John  Johnston,  a  sterling  patriot  of  the  west,  traced  "  the  dim  out- 
lines "  of  the  French  fort  in  the  vicinity  of  the  canal  acqueduct  as 
late  as  1800. 

Having  thus,  with  other  interesting  facts  and  data,  followed  the 
missionary,  trader,  and  explorer;  in  their  devious  windings  and  ambi- 
tious zeal  for  the  redemption  of  savage  souls  on  the  one  hand,  and  to 
become  suddenly  wealthy  and  famous  by  the  accumulation  of  large 
quantities  of  fur,  and  the  discovery  of  new  regions  of  territory  and 
tributary  streams,  to  the  end  that  they  might  be  greatly  favored  by 
the  King,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are  readily  enabled  to  see,  with  oth- 
er essential  reasons,  how,  at  an  early  period,  these  zealous  and 
ambitious  adventurers  found  their  way  to  this  point,  and  established 
here  their  mission  and  trading  posts;  and  why,  at  a  later  day,  the 
French  soldiers  erected  here  a  stockade,  and  long  stood  guard  in 
view  of  the  confluence  of  these  beautiful  rivers. 


CHAPTER  It. 

"  The  Past  bears  in  her  arms  the  Present  and  the  Future.  " 

Primitive  account*  of  the  New  World — Ferocious  animals — The  Mastodon — Exhumation 
of  bones  near  Huntertown — The  different  tribes  of  Indians — Their  namos — The 
Algonquin  stock — The  Indians  and  early  settlers — Civilization  ever  disliked  by 
the  Indian — The  law  of  change — Derivation  of  Indian  names — The  force  of  bar- 
baric and  civilized  influences — Indian  love  of  his  nativity — Amalgamation — The 
M  iamie»  in  1718 — The  Indian  race  track — Agriculture  among  the  Indians — The 
old  corn  field^-Thc  old  Apple-tive — Indian  habits — Ideas  of  freedom — Ke-ki-ong-u 
— Labors  of  the  men — The  Indian  women — Indian  eloquence-— The  Indian  mother 
— An  incident — Offspring — Family  government- — Love  of  war — Formidable 
character  of  the  Indians  in  the  latuY  part  of  the  past  century. 

HE  MOST  primitive  works  relating  to  tile  New  World,  were 

noted  fortlie  great  credulity  of  their  authors  and  highly  exag- 
ated  accounts  of  the  inhabitants — both  man  and  beast.    The 
J£;  country  was  considered  a  marvelous  embodiment  of  the  wildest 

conditions  of  life,  and  possessed  of  a  wealth  as  unfathomable  as 

the  land  wa§  broad,  picturesque,  and  wild. 
Here,  in  the  newly-discovered  regions  of  North  America,  there 
•were  to  be  met,  it  was  declared,  a  species  of  Lilliputians  and  men  of 
gigantic  proportions — men  not  exactly  without  heads,  wrote  Latitau, 
but  whose  heads  did  not  extend  above  the  shoulders-— a  people 
subsisting,  much  as  the  camelion,  upon  the  air — the  black  nlan  liv- 
ing a  life  of  concealment  id  the  tropical  forests — and  that  there  were 
also  tribes  in  the  more  northern  boundaries  of  the  New  World,  who^ 
not  unlike  the  ermine,  were  quite  white ;  and  it  was  such  marvelous 
tales  and  exagerated  accounts,  in  part,  at  least,  that  awakened  the 
curiosity  of  the  inhabitants  Of  the  Old  World,  and  at  length  peopled 
the  new  continent  of  North  America  with,  to  itj  a  new  order  of  human 
beings,  destined  to  pave  the  Way  for  a  new  and  more  glorib'us  sense 
of  civilization  in  all  that  pertains,  let  us  trust,  to  the  mental  and  phys- 
ical welfare  of  man. 

That  there  were  gigantic  animals  roaming  over  the  land,  is  a  well 
authenticated  fact — the  lion,  the  panther,  the  bear,  the  tiger ^ 
and,  indeed,  most  of  the  wild,  ferocious  animals  known  to  natural 
history,  were,  at  the  period  referred  to,  and  to  a  much  later  day^ 
doubtless  inhabitants  of  many  parts  of  the  New  World.  The  elk, 
•which  did  not  disappear  till  about  1825.  was  also  common.  Tbo 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  MASTODON.  15 

Indians  gayi3  accounts*  to  early  traders  here  and  at  other  points  of 
a  huge  animal  they  called  the  King  of  Bea#ts  ;  and  when  asked 
concerning  its  appearance,  their  answer  was,  that  "  it  looked  like  the 
white  man's  hay-stack — very  big  " — and  said  that  it  traversed  the 
regions  lying  between  this  section  of  the  present  State  of  Indiana 
and  Toledo,  Ohio;  and  seemed  to  regret,  when  speaking  of  it, 
that  it  was  no  longer  to  be  seen  here — that  the  white  man  had  driven 
it  away.  From  former  arid  recent  exhumations  of  bonesf  not  far 
from  Fort  Wayne,  it  is  evident  that  the  accounts  given  to  early 
traders  and  others,  by  the  Indians,  were  not  far  froni  correct,  at  least 
in  so  far  as  the  great  size  of  the  animals  were  concerned.  In  what 
sense  they  bore  a  resemblance,  in  organizatioh  and  general  struc- 
ture, to  "  the  white  man's  hay-stack,"  is  left  fcr  the  reader  to  con- 

jecture.  *C.  Peltier. 

fThe  Fort  Wnync  gazette,  of  April  22  and  September  17,  1867,  gave  the  follow  ing 
p'tfcount  of  the- exhumation  of  hones  in  Noble  eoiinty,  hear  the  Allen  county  line,  and 
ivot  far  froni  .Huntertown,  in  this  county,  (Allen)  •which  are  evidently  remains  of  the 
great  anin\a,ls  referred  to  years  ago  by  the  Indians  here  : 

•'  INTKBESTING  DISCOVERY. — Dr.  J.  S.  Fuller,  of  Perry,  Allen  Co.,  Ind.,  under  date  of 
April  20, 1867,  writes  us  that  the  skeleton  of  an  elephant  was  found  a  few  days  ago,  on  the 
1  arm  of  Win  Thrush,  of  Noble  co.,  near  the  Allen  county  line,  by  some  men  who  were 
digging  a  .ditch.  The  discovery  was  made  about  four  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  marsh. 
The  skeleton  is  very  large,  and  was  found  standing  upright,  which  indicates  that  tho 
animal  Mul  mired  in  the  marsh,  and  died  in  this  position.  The  doctor  has  examined  the 
head,  under-jaw,  hip  bones,  tusks,  and  other  pieces  of  the  skeleton,  and  is  convinced  that 
they  are  the  remains  of  an  elephant,  buried  there  at  least  one  hundred  years  ago.  The 
bones  are  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Jas.  Potter. 

•'  If  the  above  storv  is  true,  (  and  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  it,  as  the  doctor  is  a  reliable 
man)  the  discovery  is  one  of  great  interest.  There  wasa  tradition  among  the  Indians 
who  inhabited  this  region  that  Northern  Indiana  was  once  the  home  of  elephants  or  some 
animal  of  a  similar  size  and  appearance.  Wecommendthc  case  to  the  attention  of  our 
scientific  men." — Ft.  Wayne  GAZETTE,  April  22,  1867. 

"  The  mastodon  remains  found  near  Huntertown  prove  to  be  more  extensive  and  more 
interesting  than  at  first  anticipated.  Part  of  three  skeletons  were  brought  to  town  yester- 
day, a  male,  female,  and  calf.  No  one  skeleton  is  complete,  but  enough  of  each  has  been 
found  to  determine  the  sex  and  age  as  above  mentioned.  The  lower  jaw  of  the  calf  was 
exhumed  entire.  The  teeth,  small,  and  little  worn,  are  the  unmistakable  signs  of  '  veal.' 
A  quantity  of  older  and  larger  teeth,  and  part  of  a  larger  jaw  were  found.  Alsofiveofthe 
u  ft  per  bones  of  the  fore  leg,  two  upper  bones  of  the  hind  leg,  two  thigh  bones,  shoulder- 
blade,  fragmenta  of  tusks,  part  of  a  skull,  a  quantity  of  ribs,  and  many  other  smaller 
bones. 

'•  The  mastodon  was  an  animal  similar  in  size  and  appearance  to  the  elephant,  but  lar 
gor  and  more  massive  in  form.  It  belonged  to  the  geological  period  immediately  preeeed- 
ing  the  present,  end  is  supposed  tohave  been  the  last  large  animal  which  became  extinct 
before  the  creation  of  man.  Its  average  size,  as  determined  from  examination  of  remains 
Jound  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  was  about  seventeen  feet  in  length,  and  eleven  feet 
in  height.  Many  skeletons  have  been  found  in  this  country,  particularly  in  New  York 
und  New  Jersey,  where  the  search  for  them  has  been  more  thorough  than  in  other  States. 

"  The  skeletons  above  alluded  to  were  found  in  a  corn  field  on  the  farm  of  a  Mr.  Thrush , 
about  four  miles  from  Huntertown,  in  what  was  once  a  deep  marsh.  Twenty  or  thirty 
years  ago,  the  proprietor  says,  it  would  not  have  been  safe  for  manor  beast  to  enter  if. 
The  bones  were  found  in  an  area  of  about  forty  feet  in  diameter,  from  three  to  four  feet 
below  the  surface,  in  a  stratum  of  light  clay  covering  a  layer  of  blue  clay.  The  top  soil 
is  a  black  muck,  even  now  fit  for  cultivation  only  in  dry  seasons. 

"  As  to  how  they  got  into  the  mire,  various  theories  can  be  framed.     A  friend  whohus 
given  thesubject  some  profound  thought,  suggests  that  the  calf  was '  teething,'  and  crawl 
ed  into  the  marsh  for  something  to  cool  its  gums,  and  sticking  fast,  the  old  couple  follow- 
ed to  rescue  it,   and  met  with  a   like  fate.     The  last  half  of  this    theory,    we    guess, 
will  pass  muster. 

"  The  remains,  v?s  understand,  will  be  taken  to  Chicago,  for  more  carsfnl  examination 


K  J\»i:i    \Y.\y.\i:. 

Tlic  uniformity  of  the   aboriginal  tribes  <>f  North  America,  i;i 

their   primitive  btate, — taking  Charlevoix'  as  among  the  earli< 

jind  best  a'-ronnts  of  them — seem  at  once  evident  and  conclusive  ; 

and  their  habits  and  customs — institutions  and  primitive  organic 

.lions — seem  to  have  possessed  a  common  identity  and  bearing. 

In  an  early  comparison  of  the  great  number  of  dialects  among 
the  various  tribes  on  the  continent,  it  v.'as  discovered  that  not  mon- 
than  eiirht  radically  distinct  tongues  were  to  bo  found  in  the  whole 
terriiory  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi  river;  and  but  iivc  of  thes«- 
continue  to  constitute  tlic  languages  of  nations  yet  remaining; 
while,  of  late  years,  it  is  discoverable  that  but  three  only  of  these 
serve  to  remind  the  reader  that  the  tribes  speaking  them  have  wcll- 
i  become  extinct.* 

The  Algonquin,!  or  primitive  Indian  tongue,  was  not  only  con- 
sidered the  most  extended,  but  the  most  exhubcrant  in  dialect.  It 
the  Algonquin  which  welcomed  the  early  settlers  of  Plymouth 
andKoanoake:  and  was  heard,  says  Bancroft,  "from  the  Bay  of 
(j'asjie  to  the  Valley  of  the  DCS  Moines;  from  Cape  Fear,  and,  it 
may  be,  from  the  Savannah,  to  the  -land  of  the  Esquimaux;  front 
the  Cumberland  river  of  Kentucky,  to  the  southern  banks  of  the 
Mississippi ;  and  "  was  spoken,"  continues  the  same  writer, "  though 
not  exclusively,  in  a  territory  that  extended  through  sixty  degrees 
of  longitude,  and  more  than  twenty  degrees  of  latitude." 

From  the  earliest  accounts  known,  the  Indian  was  ever  disposed  to 
shun  the  settlements  of  the  white  man.  lie  loved  his  native  haunts,  the 
woods,  the  hills,  and  the  vales  of  America.  lie  was  indigenous  \« 
the  soil — he  know  no  other  land.  From  the  lirst  troubles  with  the 
settlements  at  Jamestown  and  Plymouth,  to  those  of  a  later  period, 
springing  up  at  other  points,  both  east  and  west,  the  tribes  seemed 
ever  imbued  with  the  belief  that  the  white  man  would  eventually 
<>\  errun  thier  hunting-grounds,  and  at  length  push  the  red  man  far 
towards  the  setting  sun.  How  truly  thought  and  said  the  Indian,  from 
one  period  to  another,  may  now  be  most  clearly  seen.  Such  is  the 
force  of  civilization — such  the  destiny  of  the  unadvancing,  unpro- 
gre>sive,  uncivilized  of  the  earth,  e'en  to  the  lowest  kingdom  of 
animal  life. 

Seeking  to  find  new  hunting-grounds,  new  regions  of  soil  wherein 
to  plant  their  maize  and  cultivate  the  other  products  common  to 
Indian  life,  unootruded  by  the  white  man,  at  an  early  period,  the 
tribes  of  the  east  began  gradually  to  move  westward  and  south- 
ward; while  many  clans  very  early  abandoned  their  old  hunting- 
grounds,  east  and  northward,  to  follow  a  roving  life  in  the  deep 
forests  of  the  south  and  west — fleeing  from  the  march  of  civilization, 
which,  a  few  years  later,  followed  them  to  their  distant  and  exclu- 
sive abode.  But  a  few  years  ago. — and  the  same  is  probably  true  of 

Tli-  -y  arc  ;.t  ].rs.-:V  in  dmrgr  of  Dr.W.  H.  M;-\vis  and  Mr.  Simpson,  of  tlic  C'.iica^o  Acnd- 
«-:ny  of  Natural  SeieueCB." — Fort  Wayne  OjUUCRB,  Seot.  17, 18(i7. 

•   Mbrrt  Gallatin'  T  Fr»m  11>>- Fjvnoh. 


NAMES  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  TRIBES.  17 

tl\c  present  time, — »"  among  the  tribes  of  TexaSj  there  wore  warriors 
who  are  said  to  trace  their  lineage  to  Algonquins  on  the  Atlantic  ; 
and  descendants  from  the  New  England  Indians,"  as  late  as  1852, 
"  roamed  over  western  prairies."  * 

The  eight  primitive  tribes,  exhibiting  a  radical  distinction  in  lan- 
guage, were : 

1.  ALGONQUIN,  5',  CHEROKEE,     • 

2.  PAHCOTA,  ft.  UCIIEE, 

3.  HuRON-lROQUOis,  T.  NATCHEZ, 
•1-.  CATAWEA.  S.  MOBILIAN. 

Froin  these  sprang  many  branches,  which,  some  years  subse- 
quent to  the  earliest  settlements  in  America,  had  spread  over  a 
great  part  of  the  country,  many  of  them  often  becoming  greatly 
reduced  by  warfare,  or,  fusing  one  tribe  with  another,  by  amalgama- 
tion, gradually  very  materially  changed  the  primitive  tongue.  In, 
this  \Vay,  if  not  lost  through  the  extinction  of  clans,f  a  great  number 
of  dialects  were  developed  and  diffused  over  the  continent. 

The  names  of  the  various  tribes  and  clans  of  late  years  composing 
the  Algonquin  family,  many  of  whom,  by  permission  of  the  Miam- 
ies, had  early  found  their  way  into,  and  settled  upon,  the  extensive 
territory  of  this  tribe,  were  tire 

Miamies,  (Iwigktwecs),  Sacs,  Ottawas, 

Cliippewas,  Corees,  Illinois, 

Piankcsliaws,  foxes,  Shawanoes, 

Mcnomenees,  Powliatans,  Jvickapoos, 

Lenni-Lena'pcs,  {Delawares^  Molicg&ns,  Itnisteneaux, 

The  New  England  Indians,    Alendkcs,  Monocans, 

Sus-p  uchannocks,  Manna,  JioacJcs,       Nanticoltes, 

Pottawattamies,  Winnebagocs,         Mascoutens,  J 

with  some  other  smaller  independent  claos,  many  of  which  were 
divided  into  cantons  and  bodies,  it  was  said,"  sometimes  so  small 
as  to  afibrd  only  a  war  party." 

Thus  we  see,  more  distinctly,  the  relationship,  position,  and 
character  of  the  Miamies.  Of  the  entire.  Algonquin  family,  there 
Were  perhaps  none  more  stable,  heroic  and  resolute  than  this  tribe. 

*  Bancroft---Dupon'ceau. 

f  Nature  is  everywhere  alifce  as  to  the  principle  of  CHANGE— mind, — matter  of  the 
most  gross  or  most  attenuated  Character  ,-^even  to  sounds,  music,  Words,  dialects,  lan- 
guage, of  the  finest  order  of  dcvelopernent, — are  all  subject  to  the  lawjof  change,  transmis- 
sion, growth  of  the  highest  grade  of  uufoldmerit,  or  the  opposite,  to  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  to  extinction  itself. 

*Each  of  which  had  some  special  meaning  in  the  Indian  tongue — as,  Ottawa,  sig- 
nified a  trader  •  Mascoutens,  dwellers  in  the  prairie  ;  Menomenies,  we  are.  men  ;  original 
men — an  expression  of  dignity,  or  greatness  often  usea  by  the  brave? — such  as,  "  I 
!im  a  man!  "  (a  Menomenie!);  Fox,  red  carlh\  Sac,  or  Sank,  yellow  earth — and  so  on. 
And  there  wore  probably  but  few  of  these  tribes  or  clans  that  did  not,  at  one  period 
or  other,  visit  this  point,  or  send  hither  their  envoys  to  sit  at  the  Council  Fires  of  the 
"Glorious  Gate"  of  the  different  tribes,  which  the  Miamies  "had  the  happiness  to 
own;"  and  there  were  doubtless  many  seasons  of  harmony  among  the  tribes  gathered 
here,  as  there  were  al^o  periods  of  biU:T  feuds  and  warfare  between  various  nations  of 
the  continent.  (2) 


1-v  IllSTOKY    OF   l\i«T    AVAYXK. 

The  limits  of  their  territory  has  already  been  quoted  in  the  previous 
rhapten  This  extensive  domain  hail  been  held  by  their  ancestors, 
>aid  the  famous  Little  Turtle,  to  General  Wayne, "  from  time  immem- 
orial, without  molestation  or  dispute/'  And  had  they  been  a  pro- 
gressive people— readily  adapting  themselves  to  the  active .civiliza- 
tion springing  up  everywhere  about  them  a  few  years  after  the  strug- 


1  bought,  growth,  and  culture  of  the  whites,  then  rapidly  settling 
upon  their  ancient  domain.  That  the  red  man  could  long  have 
lived  in  the  centre  of  a  moderate  civilization  without  leeling  its  pow- 
er and  influence,  any  more  than  Uie  white  man,  dwelling •  :MIU»IIU- 
Kivage  tribes,  in  the  forest,  would  bb  unable  to  resist,  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  the  influences  surrounding  hi  hi,  is  a  matter  needing 
but  little  consideration  in  point  of  fact 

Man  ever  assimilates,  has  ever  assimilated,  to  a  greater  or  lesw 
oNtenr,  in  all  ages,  with  that  which  has  surrounded  him.  If  his  sur- 
roundings are  crude,  wild,  and  inflexible,  he  has  readily  partaken  of 
them.  And  in  just  so  far  as  he  has  become  familiar  with  the  art. 
i >f  subduing  and  cultivating  the  soil — clearing  the  woodlands,  and 
making  the  untamed  conditions  of  nature  to  bend  to  his  necessities — 
producing  new  vegetative  life  in  the  form  of  fruits,  cereals,  plants, 
and  flowers,  has  he  improved  in  organization  and  the  general 
refinement  of  blood,  brain,  and  nerve.  And  it  has  ever  been 
ihrough  the  possession,  cxcercise  and  application  of  this  power  and 
intelligence,  however  meager  and  incomplete,  at  first,  the  means  and 
implements  of  cultivation,  ii'  steadily  pursued,  that  has  laid  the 
ground-work  of  sure  and  gradual  transition  from  barbarism  to  civili- 
zation. 

The  great  realm  of  nature  is  everywhere  progressive — ever  looks 
upward 'and  aspires  to  a  higher  sense  of  beauty  and  relinement. 
The  flowers  ot  a  hundred  years  ago  were  less  refined  in  point  of 
e-scncc,  and  in  many  instances  beauty  also,  than  those  of  to-day.  So 
also  with  the  fruits  and  every  other  species  of  vegetative  life,  where 
a  proper  degree  of  care  in  cultivation  is  observed.  This  principle 
is  equally  true  of  man.  Give  him  but  the  necessary  advantages 
and  encouragement  in  tl>e  art  of  cultivating  the  soil  or  improving 
liis  mental  powers,  arid  he  readily  begins  to  refine.  Under  these 
auspices  the  rod  man,  in  many  instances,  from  the  days  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  to  the  present  time,  has  verified,  most  clearly 
:t»d  Mibstanti:illy,  the  truthfulness  of  this  principle  of  growth  and 
culture  in  the  natural  order  of  existence.  And  although  never 
becoming  truly  Anglo-Saxon,  in  BO  far  as  the  inventive  and  higher 
sense  of  civilization  is  manifest — although  never  losing  his  tawny 
skin,  save  in  a  sense  of  amalgamation,  nor  ceased  entirely,  perhaps, 
j"  entertain  ,111  ullcetiou  for  the  forest  and  its  wildest  hnunrs — the 


,  INDIAN  IDEA  OF  URAVERY.  19 

fe,  and  a  love  for  the  canoe,  the  spear,  the  bow  and  arrow,  or 
trusty  rifle — he  yet  was  ev?er  a  living  evidence  ot'the  power  and  influ- 
ence of  civilization,  as  brought  to  bear  upon  him  at  various  times  and 
in  many  ways.  A  rude,  uncultivated  child  of  the  forest — of  nature  and 
the  primitive  wilds — he  was  readily  and  naturally  imitative,  and 
fcoon  received  from  the  white  man  a  knowledge  of  agriculture 
and  the  use  of  various  implements,  with  which  to  cultivate  the  soil, 
cook,  fish,  hunt,  fell  the  trees,  &c. 

Beyond  these  evidences  and  facts,  it  had  been  observed  that  it 
was  far  easier  for  the  white  man  to  become,  in  manners  arid  custom, 
an  Indian,  than  for  the  Indian  to  become  a  white  man  in  point  of 
civilization  and  the  progressive  march  and  appliances  of  life,  in 
art  and  general  culture;  and  this  is  strangely  true  of  no  other  peo- 
ple with  whom  the  white  man  has  ever  associated  or  come  in  con- 
•laci. 

The  Indian,  though  naturally  hospitable,  by  nature  and  custom, 
was  often  a  rude  example  of  indifference ;  knowing  and  practicing 
but  little  of  the  common  sympathetic  feeling  of  the  white  race. 
They  were  accustomed  to  bewail  tlve  loss  of  friends  and  their  great 
chiefs  and  sachems;  and  the  women,  on  such  occasions, in  the  wild- 
est and  most  dishevelled  appearance,  with  garments  tattered  and 
<lirty,  their  faces  blackened,  and  hair  streaming  about  their  shoul- 
ders, often  wept  bitterly,  it  is  true,  visiting  the  graves  of  the  depart- 
ed for  many  consecutive  days  ;  but,  in  the  ordinary  concerns  of  life, 
to  weep  or  lament  were  usages  most  uncommon  to  the  red  man. 
Even  in  the  midst  of  the  most  terrible  torture  or  suffering,  he  was  sel- 
•<iom  if  ever  known  to  shed  a  tear  or  utter  complaint.  !Such  was  his 
idea  of  bravery  ;  yet,  if  there  was  one  thing  more  than  another  that 
would  have  had  a  tendency  to  awaken  the  tears  and  sympathy  of  the 
Indian,  or  cause  him  to  sadly  bewail  his  lot,  was  to  remove  him,  by 
force  or  otherwise,  from  the  scenes  of  his  hunting-ground  and  early 
associations — so  ardent  was  his  attachment  to  his  native  hills  and 
plains — his  early  home  and  the  many  relations  that  clustered  about 
it;  and  in  this  he  was  much  like  the  rest  of  mankind. 

Our  surroundings  as  naturally  become  a  part  of  us,  as  the  air  we 
inhale  is  necessary  to  our  health  and  vigor  of  action.  The  soil  we 
tread  upon,  bringing  forth  and  nourishing  the  food  we  eat,  possesses 
within  itself  the  elements  of  mutuality  and  reciprocation  ;  and  every 
organic  being  as  surely  gravitates  toward  the  natural,  and  as  readily 
commingles,  in  some  way,  therewith,  as  the  law  of  gravitation 
brings  a  falling  body  to  the  earth,  or  the  diurnal  action  of  the  globe 
brings  us  the  constant  "  shadow  of  the  night "  and  "  the  light  of 
day."  And  the  law  of  sympathy  is  ever  active  and  earnest  within 
us. 

The  bleak  Esquimaux,  the  plodding  Highlander,  and  peasant  of 
Northern  Russia,  no  less  than  the  most  favored  of  the  English  nobil- 
ity, or  the  wealthiest  and  most  prosperous  merchant  or  farmer  in 
America,  are  allied  and  attached  to  their  native  homes,  and  would 


of)  HISTORY  ofr  FORT  \YAYNE. 

as  readily  take  up  the  cudgel  or  draw  the  sword,—  load  the  cannon 
or  shoulder  the  rifle  in  defence  of  their  native  plains  and  lulls  as 
would  we  of  America,  England,  France  or  Germany,  were  we  or 
they  to  be  suddenly,  or  otherwise  invaded.  Nature  never  tails  to 
express  herself—  never  fails  to  make  a  reply  when  Interrogated,  no 
matter  how  strong  the  sympathy,  or  whither  the  alliance.  And 
the  red  man,  in  his  primitive  fastnesses,  native  vales  and  woodlands 
of  America—  wandering  upon  the  banks  of  her  many  beautiful  rivers, 
chasing  the  wild  animals  of  the  forest,  or  spearing  the  fish  in  hn- 
stream's,—  was  no  exception  to  the  rule  ;  and  when  lie  saw  and  icit 
the  first  act  of  encroachment  upon  his  native  soil,  he  arose  in  all  the 
dignity  of  offended  greatness,  seized  the  tomahawk,  the  war-club,  the 
bmv  and  arrow;  assembled  the  braves;  strode  vigorously  through 
the  war-dance;  blackened  and  painted  their  faces  ;  and,  after  the 
mode  of  Indian  warfare,  at  once  lay  in  wait  to  strike  the  iirst  blow, 


n 


hopes  to  destroy  the  enemy,  or  repel  him  from  their  boundaries. 

And  herein  is  evinced  a  sad  want  of  wisdom  and  knowledge 
on  the  part  of  both  the  Indian  and  the  white  map  —  the  one  to 
pass  through  the  ordeal  of  an  almost  gradual  extermination,  while 
upon  the  other  fell  all  the  trials  and  dangers  of  an  intestine  and 
savage  warfare,  amid  forest  and  jungle,  united  with  the  vast  hard- 
ships and  vicissitude  of  the  pioneer. 

As  has  already  been  shown,  the  uniformity  of  the  Indian  dialect, 
was,  in  primitive  times,  or  about  the  period  of  the  discovery  oi' 
America,  strongly  related  and  identical.  And  the  same  was  mainly^ 
true  of  the  general  habits  and  customs  of  the  various  tribes  of 
the  continent. 

At  an  early  period,  as  the  French  and  English  successively  made 
inroads  upon  the  territories  of  the  Miamies  —  or,  as  they  were  early 
called  by  the  English  and  the  Iriquois,^e  Twiyhtwees,  —  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  stocKades  and  trading-posts,  the  spirit  of  intermarriage 
soon  became  rife  between  the  Indian  women,  fur-traders,  adventur- 
ers, and  soldiers,  which,  up  to  the  departure  of  a  large  body 
of  this  tribe  for  Kansas,  several  years  since,  Ifad  well-nigh  changed 
the  whole  number  remaining  to  "  half-breeds."  At  that  period,  as 
is  well  understood,  but  few  full-blooded  Indians  were  to  be  found 
throughout  the  entire  extent  of  their  ancient  territory.  And  hence, 
of  late  years,  looking  back  upon  them,  we  see  the  light  complexion 
of  the  white  man  clearly  visible  in  thc^r  every  feature,  rather  than 
the  brownish-red  of  the  unmixed  aboriginal.  Many  of  them,  indeed, 
were  quite  white,  with  blue  eyes,  —  though  still  retaining,  in  a 
hirgo  degree,  the  Indian  features,  —  thick  lips,  large  month,  high 
cheek  bones,  and  prominent  nose  ;  and  were,  for  the  most  part,  still 
/nifiaii  —  cherishing,  to  a  late  day,  the  ancient  customs  of  their 
fathers,  in  hunting,  fishing,  cultivating  the  maize,  &c. 

Tho  following  interesting  account  of  the  Miamies  was  written  as 
early  as  171$.  The  writer  had  made  a  short  stay  at  the  village  here, 


Tin;  MIAMIES  IN  1T1S  131 

passed  on  £o  their  brethren  of  the  Wea  and  other  towns   along 
the  Wabash.     Says  the  writer : 

"  The  Miamips  are  situated  sixty  leagues  from  Lake  Erie,  and 
number  four  hundred,  all  well  formed  men,  and  well  tattooed ;  tlie 
women  are  numerous.  They  are  hard  working,  and  raise  a  species 
of  maize  unlike  that  of  our  Indians  at  Detroit.  It  is  white,  of  the 
same  size  as  the  other,  the  skin  much  liner,  and  the  meal  much 
whiter.  This  nation  is  clad  in  deer  skin.*  They  love  plays  and 
dances  ;  wherefore  they  have  more  occupation.  The  women  are  well 
clothed,  but  the  men  use  scarcely  any  covering,  and  are  tattqoqcj.  a^ 
over  the  body.  .From  this  Miami  village,  there  is  a  portage  of  tl^reo 
leagues  to  a  little  and  very  narrow  stream  that  falls,  after  a  course 
of  twenty  leagues,!  "-to  the  Ohio  or  the  Beautiful  I|iver,  which  dis- 
charges into  the  Oauhachc — a  fine  river  that  falls  into  the  Missis- 
sippi, forty  leagues  from  Oascachias.  Into  the  Ouabache  falls  also 
the  Casquinampo,  which  communicates  with  Carolina ;  but  this  is 
very  far  off,  and  always  up  stream. 

u  This  river  Ouabache  is  the  one  on  wnich  the  OugatenonsJ  arc 
settled.  They  consist  of  five  villages,  which  are  contiguous  the  one 
to  the  other.  One  is  called  Oujatanon ;  the  other  Peanquinchias ;  and 
another  Petitseatias ;  and  the  fourth  Lesgros.  The  n,ame  of  the  last 
I  do  not  recollect ;  but  they  are  all  Oujatanons,  having  the  same 
language  as  the  Miamies — whose  brothers  they  are,  and  properly  all 
Miatiiies,  having  all  the  same  customs  and  dress.  The  men  are 
very  numerous — fully  a  thousand  or  twelve  hundred.  They  have  a 
custom  different  from  all  other  nations ;  which  is,  to  keep  their  fort 
extremely  clean,  not  allowing  a  blade  of  grass  to  remain  in  it.  The 
whole  of  the  fort  is 'sanded  like  the  Tuilleries.  *  *  *  Their  village 
is  situated  on  a  high  hill ;  and  they  have  over  two  leagues  of  improve- 
ment, where  they  raise  their  Indian  corn,  pumpkins,  and  melons. 
From  the  summit  of  this  elevation,  nothing  is  visible  to  the  eye  but 
prairies  full  of  buffalo/' 

In  stature,  for  the  most  part,  the  Miamies  were  of  medium  height, 
well  built,  heads  rather  round  than  oblong — countenances  agree- 
able, rather  than  sedate  or  morose — swift  on  foot,  and  excessively 
'fond  of  racing — both  on  foot  and  horse. ||  There  were,  occasionally 
to  be  seen  among  them  some  men  quite  tall,  yet  with  well-pro- 
portioned bodies.  As  is  intimated  in  the  foregoing,  the  Twigh- 
tvrees  or  Miamies,  unlike  most  other  tribes,  were  rather  cleanly  in 
their  habits  ;  for  which  they  were  mostly  noted  up  to  a  very  late 
period ;  and  were  disposed  to  cultivate  the  soil — raising  the  maize, 
beans,  squashes,  cupnmbers,  melons,  &c.  Around  and  within  view 

*From  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  (a  Paris  document,)  vol.  ix,  j>.  £91. 

f  Fragile,  (from  the  French,)  three  miles.  i Pronounced  as  if  spelt.  Weatenons. 

||  The  Indian  raec-track,  for  many  years,  extended  from  the  south  side  of  the  west- 
en  J  free  school  building,  westward  about  half  a.  mile  For  some  years  before  tlie  depart- 
ure of  tile  Miamies  lor  the  west,  while  the  racing  was  kept  up  over  tlmtrnek,  men  fro  1:1 
Ohio,  and  other  parts  of  'the  country,  were  accustomed  to  bring  many  fast  horses  here, 
and  often  sold  them  to  the  Indians  at  very  extravagant  p:;>.<  a. 


-j-j  JIi.-i«  1:1  UK  FOJM   \YAY.NL. 

of  tfi0  present  Bite  Of  Ft  Wayne,  at  different  points,  were  several 
Miiall  patches  of  cleared  land,  which  tke  Indian  women  and  chil- 
dren regularly  cultivated  each  year,  and  brought  forth  considerable 

quantities  of'rorn  and  other  products;  which,  together  with  the 
irame  and  fish  brought  in  by  the  men  of  the  tribe,  supplied  them 
with  food  during  the  winter.  It  is  a  well  authenticated  i'uct,  how- 
ever, that,  at  periods,  perhaps  in  seasons  ofsevere  drought,  or  more 
especially  when  the  products  of  their  lields  were  destroyed  or  over- 
run, and  their  villains  burned  by  invading  armies,  or  through  conflicts 
with  formidable  tribes  at  more  remote  periods,  and  often  from  neg- 
lect to  prepare  for  the  winter  months,  the  Indians,  not  unfreqiiently, 
found  themselves  with  but  scanty  supplies  for  the  severe  months  of 
winter;  and^  huddling  themselves  about  their  dingy  wigwams,  with 
a  few  smoking  embers  in  the  center,  scarcely  sufficient  to  keep  them 
warm,  have  been  known  to  fast  for  many  consecutive  days  because 
of  their  inability  to  obtain  food. 

The  extensive  field*  and  open  point,  just  east  of,  and  adjacent  to, 
the  confluence  of  the  rivers  St.  Mary  and  St.  Joseph,  in  which  stands 
the  historic  Apple  Trce,t  near  and  about  which  were  scattered  many 
of  the  huts  and  wigwams  of  the  Miamies  to  a  late  period  in  the 
present  century,  had  been  annually  cultivated  by  this  ancient  tribe 
i'or  a  period  of  peviiaps  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  or  more  before 
the  erection  of  the  fort  at  this  point  under  the  direction  of  General 
Wayne,  in  17i>4.  That  their  women  had  long  been  accustomed  to 

•As  early  as  1814,  the  Indians  then  here  informed  John  P.  Hedges,  Esq.,— vrho 
has  now  been  a  resident,  of  Fort  Way  lie  for  fifty-five  years — coming  here  wit  hi  lie  army 
in  1SI2. — that  this  6eld  had  been  cultivated l>y  otherslongbeforethem  ;  and,  to  .quote 
their  own  language, — mingeb-a-watook, — they  had  plained  nnd  raised  corn,  beans, 
&c.,  in  this  field  for  many  years — a  lony,  /on//  time. 

fChief  Iliehardville  often,  told  (he  old  settlers  here  that  this  old  tipple  tree  was  lli'-'v 
:»y  ;  and  that  it  was  then  a  "  hearing  tree  ;"  thutt.ho  hut  in  whic 


when  he  wa*  a  littl-  buy 
lie  was  born  »Nxxl  very  ne 
in  1841.  With  these  facts  it  is  presumed  that,  at  the  pns.-nt 


lie  was  boTRftood  very  near  to  it.     Thechiefattainedaungeof  near  eighty  years. and  died 

•sent  firm1   "September,  ]Mn    , 
the  tree 'is  ul>mit  one  hundred  and  thirty  odd  years  old.     From  the  fact  of  his  eurlv 


association*,  his  liirth,  «tc.,  being  HO  intimately  related  to  this  old  tree  and  ils  adjueent 
localities.  Richardyille  ever  looked  upon  it  with  the  warmest  veneration  and  regard. 
The  tree  \*  thought  to  have  sprung  from  a  seed  aeeidently  dropped  or  purposely  planted 
by  some  of  the  early  French  traders  or  missionaries  visiting  this  point.  In  the  spring  of 
)rT>ti.  a  Jieavv  storm  swept  away  it*  main  trunk,  leaving  it  as  now  seen  in  the  opposite 
enirruving.  The  circumference,  as  measured  by  tin-  writer  and  a  friend,  in  the  month 
of  June,  (1HG7)  was  ISi  feet,  'flic  fruit,  is  small,  and  usually  ripens  in  the  month  ot 
<  )etoh«r.  By  the  ta*te  of  tlie  leaf  of  the  ttve,  there  would  seem  to  bo  su^neient  strengtii 
and  vitality  in  it,  if  not  otherwise  molested,  to  survive  at  hunt  u  half  Century  or  moiv 
U>com«'.  S  iys  Mr.  J.  L.  William* :  "  AVe  need  not  qui'stion  its  Identity.  There  ar«- 
H|x-eimensof  the  hardier  varieties  in  this  eonntry  no\y  bearing  fruit  at  the  age  of  lf>(>  t«> 
'JOO  years."  Jx-t  its  memory  be  perpetuated' by  a  careful  preservation  of  it  in  futui" 
year.*.  \\+  histnrie  renown  well  entitles  it  totht-  careful  attention  of  the  j-ivst-nt.  owners 
of  the  ancient  fii'M  of  tin-  Miamies.  in  which  it  lins  so  long  lived,  blossomed ,  and  borni- 
its  fruit.  Let  a  neiit  railing  be  ]>lai;ed  about  it  as  a  means  to  its  lu-tter  ]>roU-etion  mid 
enre.  It  was  out  of  this  tree  that  an  Indian,  during  the  seigi'  of  1*1  iJ,  v,'iis  shot  by  one 
of  the  soldier*  from  the  tort,  a  distance  ol  many  hundred  yards.  In  an  exalting  spirit, 
one  of  the  bcseigers  wa~  in  tin-  luibitof  eliniliin:;  the  tree  each  day  for  several  days,  and, 
lir»\ving  his  arms,  much  like  the  rooster  liU  \»in-/s.  when  erowi'ng.  would  ut.t»  r  a  noi-..' 
•  rv  like  this  fowl,  which  was  finally  •MWcred  by  the  crack  of  u  ritlc  from  the 
rt,  and  th<>  Indian  was  seen  to  fall. 


THE   ,,OLD  APPLE    TREE'! 


KK-KI-ONU-A — ITS  MEANING.  ijo 

extensive  agricultural  pursuits  is  most  i'ully  confirmed  by  all  tire 
early  visitants  of  this  locality,  and  the  regions  adjacent. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  war,  General  K.K.OX,  bearing  date 
August  14,  179-i,  General  Wayne  said:  "The  margin  of  those 
beautiful  rivers,  the  Miamis  of  the  lake  (or  Maumee)  and  Auglaize, 
appear  like  one  continued  village  for  a  number  of  miles,  both  above, 
and  below  this  place  (confluence  of  the  Auglai/e  and  Maumee);  nor 
have  1  ever  beheld  such  immense  iields  of  corn,  in  any  part  of  Ameri- 
ca, from  Canada  to  Florida." 

The  accounts  of  1812,  arc  of  a  similar  character.  Several  villages, 
were  then  located  at  different  points,  here  and  within  a  range  of 
some  ten  miles  of  Ft.  Wayne ;  the  most  considerable  village  then 
being  about  ten  miles  below  this  point,  on  the  Maumee.  A  large 
amount  of  corn  and  wheat  were  then  destroyed,  much  of  it  purport-, 
ed  to  have  been  of  a  very  excellent  quality ;  showing,  that,  by  a  long- 
contact  with  thp  English  and  French,  from  whom  had  sprung  many 
of  the  half-breeds,  then  so  numerous  among  the  Miamies  and  other 
tribes  living  near  and  about  them,  these  Indians  had  attained  many 
advantages  in  civilized  relations,  in  the  way  of  agriculture,  <fec. ;  and 
many  of  the  yiUagern  were  then  living  in  very  good  log-cabins, 
raising  annually  excellent  crops  of  both  corn  and  wheat.  Ox-teams, 
brought  from  Canada,  were  also  employed  amon^  them,  at  that 
period,  to  very  good  advantage.* 

The  Indian  loved  the  wild  fruits,  and  here,  in  the  region  of  Fort 
Wayne,  there  were,  at  an  early  period,  an  abundance  of  wild  plums, 
haws,  berrip.s,  &c.  The  Indians  were  accustomed  to  cherish  the  belief 
that  for  them,  the  Great  Spirit  had  especially  caused  these  to  come 
forth  and  ripen  with  each  season ;  and  every  species  of  food,  from 
the  roots,  vegetables,  and  fruits,  to  the  animals  themselves,  wer<p 
alike  considered  as  imbued  with  some  peculiar  principle  in  which, 
the  Great  Spirit  had  infused  some  special  element  of  excellence, 
intended  to  impart  to  the  red  man  both  health  and  strength.  Here, 
more  especially^  the  blackberry  was  most  abundant,  and  from  this 
fact,  this  point  was  long  known  to  the  Indians  as  Ke-ki-ong-a,f 

*  Recollections  of  Mr.  George  Taylor,  a  resident  of  Plymouth ,  Inil.,\vho  was  here  in  181 2, 
and,  by  command  of  his  si^perior  officers  of  the  army,  helped  to  destroy  many  of  tli« 
Indian  settlements  of  this  region. 

•fSays  Mr.  Chas.  B.  Laeselle,  in  referring  to  this  point :  "The  Miami  name  of  this 
village  was  Ke-ki-ottg-a,  which,  by  an  inflection  of  the  last  syllable,  was  pronounced 
as  if  writtten  Ke-ki-orig'a.  The  name  in  English,  signifies  blackberry  patch,  which, 
in  its  turn,  passed  among  the  Miamies  as  a  symbol  of  antiquity.  But  whether  this  name 
was  given  it  on  account  of  the  spot  being  covered  with  the  blackberry,  or  was  meant 
to  represent  it  as  the  most  ancient  village  of  their  race  in  this  country,  is  not  known, 
though  tradition,  their  unusual  regard  for  it,  (the  place)  aiid  the  tenacity  with  which 
they  so  long  defended,  it,  would  imply,  the  hitter  supposition.  The  old  colonist  writers 
speak  of  it  as  the  '  Twightwee '  village.  ,  The  French  traders  called  it  '  ACMK.'  The 
Americans  called  it '  OMEI:,'  and  sometimes.'  THE  Miami  village.'  It  extended,  jrrin- 
c-i  pally,  along  the  banks  of  the  St.  Joseph  river,  but  Avas  also  over  the  opposite  side,  and 
reached  to  within  three  or  four  hundred  yards  of  the  confluence  of  that  river  with  th<i 
St..  Mary.  The  inhabitants  of  thU  village  anciently  belonged  to  that  tribe  of  Miamies 
called  the  Twat-t-wahfi,  (which  the  early  colonist*  spelt  '  Twightwees,')  the  nation 
having  counted  of  the  several  tribes  of  Weahs  (al  We  ah-ta-ncng,  on  the  H'ubash,}  Eel 


^4  HISTORY  OF  FOI;T  WAYNE. 

which,  interpreted,  signified  a  blackberry  patch.  And  the  n\-uK>.- 
can  well  imagine,  in  the  ripening  season,  a  bevy  of  women  and 
children,  with  bark  baskets,  gathering  the  rich  berries  of  their  K*-ki~ 
ong-a. 

With  the  red  man,  to  be  idle,  was  to  be  happy,  great,  and  free ; 
and,  as  we  have  seen  in  a  former  page,  the  Miamies  "  loved  plays 
and  dances,"  and  thus,  with  gaming,  chanting  some  familiar  retrain, 
perhaps  learned  from  the  medicine  men — wrestling,  racing,  lying, 
or  sitting  beneath  the  shade  ot  some  wide-spreading  tree,  in  sum- 
mer, they  whiled  away  their  time  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
spring,  summer,  and  fall,  seldom  if  ever  disturbing  the  game  of  the 
forest,  more  especially  that  species  (the  beaver,  the  raccoon,  the 
bear,  the  deer,  the  buffalo,*  cfec.,)  which  afforded  them  valuable  furs 
and  skins,  until  the  hunting  season  began,  which  was  usually  about 
the  first  of  November  of  each  year.  This  was  life  among  the  Miam- 
ies, and,  in  fact,  among  every  tribe  of  the  northwest. 

In  games  of  chance,  moccasin,  tfec.,  in  which  they  indulged  a  great 
deal,  at  a  late  period,  more  especially,  they  would  participate,  unless 
intoxicated,  with  the  greatest  good  humor,  often  betting  ajid  losing 
every  article  they  possessed,  even  to  their  guns,  hatchets,  <fec.,  and 
never  thought  it  amiss  to  cheat,  whenever  an  opportunity  presented. 
In  foot  and  horse-racing,  they  as  often  went  to  as  great  extremes 
in  betting  as  when  at  a  game  of  moccasin. 

The  greatest  labors  of  the  men,  in  earlier  periods,  were  those  of 
completing  palisades;  constructing  boats;  to  aid  in  the  building  and 
repair  of  their  cabins  ;  to  prepare  the  instruments  of  warfare  and 
the  chase ;  to  paint,  tattoo,  and  otherwise  adorn  their  bodies.  The 
women  of  the  red  men  were  ever  the  toilers ;  to  them  fell  the  bur- 
dens of  cultivating  the'fields  and  patches  that  brought  forth  the  vege- 
tation of  spring  and  summer  that  went  to  nourish  them,  in  part, 
the  remainder  of  the  year ;  and  before  the  visit  of  the  trader — who 
supplied  them,  in  exchange  for  furs,  with  hoes,  and  other  imple- 
ments of  use, — how  meager  and  indifferent  must  have  been  their 
means  and  advantages  of  cultivating  the  soil.  Some  wooden  im- 
plement, perhaps — some  sharp  bone  of  an  animal,  or  tortoise  shell, 
doubtless  served  for  a  hoe  or  mattock.  And  thus  toiled  the  Indian 

Rivera  (at  At-ke-no-pe-kong,  on  Eel  river),  Twat-wnhs,  and  perhaps  some  others,  v,lu>se 
names  and  existence,  as  separate  tribes,  have  long  since  ceased,  and  been  merged  into 
those  of  the  nation."  Now,  the  fact  of  t.lie  word  Ke-ki-ong-a  signifying  a  blackberry 
patch  warrants  a strong  supposition,  at  least,  that,  in  view  of  the  fact  of  there  Ix-ing 
very  early  a  Urge  natch  of  that  nature  at  this  point,  the  name  Ke-ki-ong-a  must  primi- 
tively have  been  derived  therefrom. 

'November,  Oth,  1712,  Father  Gabriel  Jlarost,  a  French  missionary,  writing  from 
some  point  perhaps  along  the  \V abash,  or.  ns  then  called,  tho  Ouc^barJic,  after  giving 
n  somewhat  full  and  graphic  account  of  the  regions  bordering  on  that  stream,  said 
it  was  "rich  in  minerals,  especially  lead  and  tin,  and  that  if  cxpeiicnced  miners 
were  to  como  out  from  France  nn<l  work  the  mines,  he  hnd  no  doubt  that  gold 
and  silver  would  be  found  i:i  abundance.  That  tho  quantity  of  buffalo  and  bear 
which  was  to  be  found  on  the  banks  of  the  Wubasn  (Ouabachc},  was  incredible;" 
and  further  remarked  that  "the  meat  of  the  bear  was  very  delicious,  "for,"  said  ho, 
'•I  have  tried  it."— Judge  Law's  Addres:.-,  page  11. 


LABOKS  o?  THE  IXDIAS  WOMEN.  25 


n  in  the  field,  mellowed  the  soil,  beat  down  the  weeds  about 
the  corn,  cultivated  the  bean,  the  squash,  the  Indian  cucumber, 
the  pumpkin  and  the  melon  ;  and  she  it  was  that  routed  the  birds 
from  the  patches,  gathered  the  maize  and  other  p  roducts  of  her. 
labor;  jerked  and  dried  the  deer,  bear,  and  buffalo  meat  ;  prepared 
the  Indian  meal  ;  dried  the  winter's  fruit  ;  gathered  the  wood  for 
the  fires,  and  cooked  the  meals.  And  when  a  bark  canoe  was  built, 
it  was  the  Indian  woman's  work  to  sew  the  bark  with  some  stringy. 
substance,  berhaps  peeled  from  the  elm  or  root  of  some  small  tree, 
and  filling  the  seams  with  some  adhesive  substance,  to  prevent  leak- 
age. "When  removing  from  one  point  to  another,  or  retiring  to  their 
hunting-grounds  for  the  winter,  to  carry  the  luggage,  and  material 
of  the  wigwam,  if  taken  with  them,  it  was  the  mission  of  the  Indian 
women  to  pack  such  upon  their  backs.  Did  the  red  man  go  in  . 
pursuit  of  game,  it  was  the  ancient  custom  of  the  faithful  Indian 
woman  to  follow  and  carry  upon  her  shoulder  the  fruits  of  the  chase.* 
The  Indian  women  A;/erc  indeed  heroes.  And  when  we  come  to 
contemplate  the  toilsome  liyes  they  led  —  their  unflinching  efforts  in 
all  kinds  of  weather,  —  in  every  season  of  the  year  —  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  early  sons  of  the  forest  were  hardy  and  active  — 
lleet  on  foot  and  wily  in  the  fight.  Amid  toil  and  drudgery  —  trial 
and  vicissitude  —  the  Indian  woman  often  brought  forth  the  offspring 
of  their  masters;  (for  they  were  evidently  nearly  all,  if  not  quite,  in 
a  large  degree,  at  least,  veritable  slaves  to  their  husbands.)  So 
hardy  were  they,  from  constant  physical  labor  and  exposure  to  the 
open  air,  it  was  said  of  them,  that,  "in  one  quarter  of  an  hour  a 
woman  would  be  merry  in  the  house,  and  delivered,  and  merry 
again;  and  within  two  days,  abroad;  and  after  four  or  five  days,  at 
work."  The  powerful  will  of  the  Indian  women,  together  with  their 
long  accustomed  aversion  and  heroic  indifference  to  pain,  ever  rose 
superior  to  the  momentary  pangs  accompanying  the  birth  of  their 
offspring.  Ill  this  they  possessed  a  strong  native  intuition  ;  and 
thus  far,  at  least,  are  worthy  of  emulation  by  all  the  mothers  of  our 
present  heroic  conditions  of  civilization  and  intellectual  advance- 
ment. What  a  world  of  health  and  goodness  —  what  an  ocean  of 
intellectual  excellence  and  physical  beauty  might  have  been  ger- 
minated through  the  organism  of  the  Indian  mother,  had  she  possess- 

*"  When  the  Indians  arrived  and  departed,"  says  Mrs.  Kenzie,  referring  to  very. 
early  times,  in  the  present  century,  about  Green  Bay,  "  my  souse  of  '  woman's  rights' 
•was  often  outraged.  The  muster  of  the  family,  as  a  general  thing,  came  leisurely. 
bearing  a  gun  and  perhaps  a  lance  in  his  hand.  The  woman,  with  the  mats  and  pole.* 
of  her  lodge  upon  her  shoulders,  her  papoose,  if  site  had  one.  the  kettles,  sacks  of  corn, 
and  wi'd,  rice,  and  not  unfrequently,  the  household  dog,  perched  on  th<:  top  of  all.  If 
there  is  a  horse  or  pony  in  the  list  of  family  possessions,  the  man  rides,  the  eojuaw 
trudges  after.  This  unequal  division  of  labor  is  the  result  of  no  want  of  kind,  affection- 
ate feeling  on  the  part  of  the  husband.  It  is  rather  the  instinct  of  the  sex  to  assort  their 
Superiority  of  position  and  importance,  when  a  proper  occasion  offers.  When  out  of  the 
reach  of  observation,  and  in  no  danger  of  compromising  his  o-,vn  dignity,  the  husband 
is  Drilling  enough  to  relievo  his  spouse  from  the  burden  that,  custom  impose*  oil  her, 
by  Jiaring  her  labors  and  hardship--.  ''  —  "  Karly  Day  in  the  Xoj-thwe-t,"  page*  359  and 
SCO. 


OF  FOKT  WAYNK. 


cd  the  proper  expansion  of  mind.  Even  as  it  was,  liow  many  rare 
and  singular  examples  of  oratory  came  from  lier.  Listen  to  the  stir- 
ring appeal  of  Little  Turtle,  (Mc-che-cannah-quah)  addressing  Gen. 
Wayne,  and  others,  at  the  famous  treaty  of  Greenville,  July  15th, 


"  Elder  brother,  and  all  present  !  I  am  going  to  say  a  few  words," 
said  the  orator,  u  in  the  name  of  the  Pottawattamjes,  We^s,  and  Kick- 
apoos.  It  is  well  known  to  you  all,  that  people  are  appointed  on 
these  occasions,  to  speak  the  sentiments  of  others  ;  therefore  am  I 
appointed  for  those  three  nations.  Elder  brother:  you  told  your 
younger  brothers,  when  we  first  assembled,  that  peace  was  your 
object;  you  swore  your  interpreters  before  us  to  the  faithful  dis- 
charge of  their  duty,  and  told  them  the  Great  Spirit  would  punish 
them,  did  they  not  perform  it.  You  told  us  that  it  was  not  you, 
but  the  President  of  the  fifteen  fires  of  the  United  States  whospoko 
to  us  ;  that  whatever  he  should  say  should  be  firm  and  lasting  ;  that, 
it  was  impossible  he  should  say  what  was  not  true.  Rest  assured 
that  your  younger  brothers,  the  Miamies,  Chippewas,  Ottawas,  Pot- 
tawattamies,  Shawanees,  Weas,  Kickapoos,  Piankesiiaws,  and  Kas- 
kaskias,  are  well  pleased  with  your  words,  andi  are  persuaded  of 
your  sincerity.  You  have  told  us  to  consider  the  boundaries  you 
showed  us  ;  your  younger  brothers  have  done  so,  and  now  pro- 
ceed to  give  you  their  answer.  ^ 

"  Elder  brother  :  Your  younger  brothers  do  not  wish  to  hide  their 
sentiments  from  you.  I  wish  them  to  be  the  same  with  those  of  the 
Wyandots  and  Delawares.  You  have  told  us,  t^at  most  of  the 
reservations  you  proposed  to  us,  belonged  to  our  fathers,  the  French 
and  the  British.  Permit  your  younger  brothers  to  make  a  few 
observations  on  this  subject.  Elder  brother  :  We  wish  you  to  listen 
with  attention  to  our  words.  You  have  told  your  younger  brothers 
that  the  British  imposed  falsehoods  on  us,  when  they  said  the 
United  .States  wished  to  take  our  lands  from  us,  and  that  the  United 
States  had  no  such  design  :  You  pointed  out  to  us  the  boundary  line, 
which  crossed  a  little  below  Loramie's  store,  and  struck  Fort  Recov- 
ery,and  run  from  thence  to  Ohio,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Kentucky  riv- 
er. Elder  brother  :  You  have  told  us  to  speak  our  minds  freely,  and  we 
now  do  it.  This  line  takes  in  the  greater  and  best  part  of  your 
brother's  hunting  ground  ;  therefore  your  younger  brothers  are  of 
opinion  you  take  too  much  of  their  lands  away,  and  confine  the 
hunting  of  our  young  men  within  jimits  too  contracted.  Your 
brothers,  the  Miamis,  the  proprietors  cj"  those  lands,  and  all  your 
youngor  brothers  present,  wish  you  to  run  the  line  as  you  mentioned, 
to  Fort  Recovery,  and  continue  it  along  the  road,  from  thence  to 
Fort  Hamilton,  on  the  Great  Miami  river.  This  is  what  your 
brothers  request  you  to  do,  and  you  may  rest  assured  of  the  'free 

This  speech   i.ut   unly  Inrgely  displays  the  power  of  Indian  oratory,—  the  nativ- 
Ligenee  and  -,x,.]n«^  of  heart,  of  this  <li*tin:.Miish<-<l   Chief,  but  «bo  earrirs  with  if 
many  militant  historical  fscts  relating  to  the  early  liistwv  of  Furl  Wayne. 


OF    LjTTl.E    Tl'KTUi,  -7 

navigation  of  that  river,  from  thence  to  its  mouth,  forever.  Brothe  r: 
Here  is  the  road  we  wish  to  be  the  boundary  befween  us.  What 
lies  to  the  east  we  wish  to  be  yours  ;  that  to  tlje  west,  we  would 
desire  to  be  ours.  [Presenting  a  road  belt.] 

"  Elder  brother  :  In  speaking  pi' the  reservations,  you  say  they 
are  designed  for  the  same  purposes  as  those  for  which  our  fathers, 
the  French  and  English,  occupied  them.  Your  younger  brothers 
now  wish  to  make  some  observations  on  them.  Elder  brother: 
Listen  with  attention.  You  told  us  you  discovered  on  the  Great 
Miami,  traces  of  nn  old  fort.  Brother:  it  was  a  fort  built  by  me. 
You  perceived  another  at  Loramie's  :  'tis  true  a  Frenchman  once 
lived  there  for  a  year  or  two.  The  Miami  villages  were  occupied 
as  you  remarked  ;*  but,  it  was  unknown  to  your  younger  brothers, 
until  you  told  them,  that  we  had  sold  land  there  'to  the  Fa-en ch  or 
English.  I  was  surprised  to  hear  you  say  it  was  my  forefathers 
had  set  the  example  to  the  other  Indians,  in  selling  their  lands. 
I  will  inform  you  in  what  manner  the  French  and  English  occupied 
those  places.  Elder  brother:  These  people  were  seen  by  our  fore- 
fathers first  at  Detroit :  afterwards  we  saw  them  at  the  Miami  village 
— that  glorious  gate,  which  your  younger  brothers  had  the  happiness 
to  own,  and  through  which  all  the  good  words  of  our  chiefs  had  to 
p.'it-s,  from  the  north  to  the  south,  and  from  the  east  to  the  west. 
Brothers,  those  people  never  told  us  they  •tyished  to  purchase  our 
lands  from  us. 

''Elder  brother:  I  now  give  you  the  true  sentiments  of  your 
younger  brothers,  the  Miamis,  with  respect  to  the  reservation  at 
the  Miami  villages.  We  thank  you  for  kindly  contracting  the  limits 
you  at  lirst  proposed.  Wo  wish  you  to  take  this  six  miles  square 
on  the  side  of  the  river  where  your  fort  now  stands,  as  your 
younger  brothers  wish  to  inhabit  that  beloved  spot  again.  You 
.shall  cut  hay  for  your  cattle  wherever  you  please,  and  yo.ii  shall 
never  require  in  vain  the  assistance  of  your  younger  brqtliers  at 
that  place.  Elder  brother:  The  next  place  you  pointed  to  was  the 
Little  River,  and  said  you  wanted  two  miles  square  at  that  place. 

*Tlie  point  here  referred  to.- was  the  following,  from  General  Wayne's  speech,  made 
five  clays  previous  to  the  delivery  of  Little  Turtle's  speech,  and  addressed  to  the 
Mifctnies.  Said  he, 

"  I  will  point  out  to  yon  where  I  discover  strong  traces  of  these  establishment?  ; 
(forts)  and,  first  of  all.  I  Hud  at  Detroit  a  very  strong  print,  where  the  lirstflre  was  kindled 
liy  your  forefathers:  west,  at  Vinocnnes,  on  the  \Vab.-»sh  ;  agiin  at  Mtwquiton,  on  the 
same  river  ;  a  little  higher  up  that  stream,  they  are  to  bo  seen  at.  Ouitenon.  I  discover 
another  strong  trace  at  Chicago ;  another  on  the  Sr,.  Joseph's  of  Lake  Michigan.  I  have 
seen  distinctly  the  prints  of  a  French  and  British  post  at  the  Miami  villages,  and  of  a 
British  post,  at  th«'  foot  of  the  rapids,  now  in  their  possession ;  prints,  very  conspicuous, 
are  on  the  Great  Mia'ui,  which  were  possessed  b\-  the  French  forty -live  vears  ago  ;  and 
another  trace  is  verv  distinctly  to  be  seen  at  Sandusky.  It  appears  to  me,"  he  continued, 
••  that  if  the  Great  Spirit,  as  you  say,  charged  your  forefathers  to  preserve  their  lands 
entire  for  their  posterity,  thev  have  paid  very  little  regard  to  the  sacred  injunction  :  for 
1  886  they  have  parted  with  those  lands  to  your  fathers,  the  French,  and  the  English  are 
now.  or  have  been,  in  possession  of  them  all  ;  therefore,  I  think  the  charge  urged  against 
the  Ottawas,  the  Chippcwas,  and  other  Indians  eomes  with  a  bad  graee,  in<j«e<t  from  the 
very  people  perhaps  that  set  them  the  example.  The  English  and  French  both  wore 
liais  ;  and  yet,  your  forcfatli'jixs  told  theui,  at  various  tinivj,  j-jilious  of  yuur  lande." 


28  llisTony  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

This  is  a  request  that  our  fathers,  the  French  and  British,  never 
made  us ;  it  v.*as  always  ours.  This  carrying  place  has  heretofore) 
proved,  in  a  great  degree,  the  subsistence  of  your  younger  broth- 
ers. That  place  has  brought  to  us,  in  the  course  of  one  day,  the 
amount  of  one  hundred  dollars.  Let  us  both  own  this  place,  and 
enjoy  in  common  the  advantages  it  affords.  You  told  us,  at  Chicago, 
the  French  possessed  a  fort:  we  have  never  heard  of  it.  We  thank 
you  for  the  trade  you  promised  to  open  in  our  country  ;  and  permit 
us  to  remark,  that  we  hope  our  former  traders  may  be  continued, 
and  mixed  with  yours.  Elder  brother:  On  the  subject  of  hostages, 
1  have  only  to  observe,  that  I  trust  all  my  brothers  are  of  my  opin- 
ion with  regard  to  peace  and  our  future  happiness.  I  expect  to  be 
with  you  every  day  when  you  settle  on  your  reservations  ;  and  it  will 
be  impossible  for  me  or  my  people  to  withhold  from  you  a  single 
prisoner ;  therefore  we  don't  know  why  any  of  us  sljould  remain 
here.  These  are  the  sentiments  of  your  younger  brothers  present, 
on  these  particulars." 

And  again,  at  a  council,  in  the  valley  of  the  Muskingum,  in  1TG4, 
hear  the  eloquent  words  of  a  Shawanoe  chief,  as  he  addresses  the 
KiiLrlish  commander,  Col.  Bouquet,  then  marching  against  the  west- 
ern tribes: 

"Brother,"  said  the  chief, "with  this  belt  of  wamjmm,  I  dispel 
the  black  cloud  that  has  so  long  hung  over  our  heads,  that  the 
sunshine  of  peace  may  once  more  descend  to  warm  and  gladden 
us.  I  wipe  the  tears  from  your  eyes,  and  condole  with  you  on  the 
loss  of  your  brethren  who  have  perished  in  this  war.  I  gather 
their  bones  together,  and  cover  them  deep  in  the  earth,  that  the 
sight  of  them  may  no  longer  bring  sorrow  to  your  heart ; '  and  I 
scatter  dry  leaves  over  the  spot,  that  it  may  depart  forever  from 
memory. 

"The  path  of  peace,  which  once  ran  between  your  dwellings  and 
mine,  has  of  late  been  choked  with  thorns,  and  briars,  so  that  no 
one  could  pass  that  way  ;  and  we  have  both  almost  forgotten  that 
such  a  path  had  ever  been.  I  now  clear  away  all  these  obstructions, 
and  make  a  broad,  smooth  road,  so  that  you  and  I  may  freely  visit 
each  other,  as  our  fathers  used  to  do.  I  Kindle  a  great  council-fire 
whose  smoke  shall  rise  to  heaven,  in'vicw  of  all  the  nations,  while 
you  and  1  shall  sit  together  and  smoke  the  peace-pipe  at  its  blaze.''* 

•An  Indian  council, on  solemn  occosions.was  always  opened  with  preliminary  forms, 
sufficiently  wearisome  and  tedious,  but  made  indispeiuiblc  by  immemorial  custom  ;  for 
this  people  aiv  a*  much  liouiul  by  their  convent  ional  usages  as  the  most  artificial  children 
of  civilization.  The  forms  were  varied,  to  some  extent,  according  to  tlie  imagination  <>t 
the  speaker';  but  in  all  essential  respects  they  were  elos-ly  similar,  throughout  the  tribe* 
of  tin-  Algonquin  and  Iroquon  lineage.  Th«>yru;i  somewhat  a*  follows,  each  sentence 
being  pronounced  with  great  solemnity,  and  confirmed  by  the  delivery  of  a  wampum 
Ix-lt  Brother*,  with  this  belt  I  open  your  ears  that  you  mav  hear — 1  remove  grief  and 
BflTTOW  from  your  hcarta — I  draw  from'  your  feet  the  thorns'  that  pierced  them  as  you 
journeyed  thither— I  clean  the  si-ate  of  the  council-horn,',  that  you  may  sit  at  ease — I 
wash  y»ur  head  and  body,  that  your  spirits  may  IMS  refreshed— I  condole  with  you  oil 
the  lv..  ..fill.  !Vi.  ud..  wli'o  have  ili.'d  since  \ve  last  met— I  w;},o  <mt  a,,v  \,\wd  which 


AFFECTION  OF  THE  INDIAN  MOTHER.  29 

Again,  in  17GV2,  at  the  famous  council  of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  &  dis- 
tinguished chief  of  the  Oncidas,  with  singular  emphasis,  said : 

"  In  the  country  of  the  Oneidas  there  is  a  great  pine-tree,  so  huge 
and  old  that  half  its  branches  are  dead  with  time.  I  tear  it  up  by 
the  roots,  and,  looking  down  into  the  holb^  I  see  a  dark  stream  of 
water,  flowing  with  a  strong  current,  deep  under  ground.  Into  this 
stream  I  fling-  the  hatchet,  and  the  current  sweeps  it  away,  no  man 
knows  whither.  Then  I  plant  the  tree  again  where  it  stood  before, 
and  thus  this  war  will  be  ended  forever." 

The  love  of  the  Indian  mother  for  her  child  was  most  intqnse. 
Though  seldom  expressed  by  fond  caresses,  yet  it  was  ever  ardent, 
free,  and  unextinguishable  ;  and  to  have  entrusted  her  babe  to1  the 
care  of  another  to  perform  the  part  of  mother  or  nurse,  except 
in  cases  of  death,  would  indeed,  to  her>  have  been  a  wild,  barbarous 
act.  The  cradle  of  the  Indian  child  was  usually  constructed  of 
bark  and  small  sticks  ot  wood ;  and  was  commonly  adorned  with 
gaudy  feathers,  beads,  and  other  attractive  objects,  of  a  similar 
nature.  A  buffalo  or  other  warm  furry  skin  usually  served  as  a 
bed  and  covering  for  the  little  nursling.* 

When  j  ourn eying,  the  Indian  mother  would  wrap  her  child  in  furs, 
or  in  a  blanket,  and,  placing  its  back  to  her  own,  would  travel  steadily 
on  to  her  journey's  end,  regardless,  often,  of  the  wailings  of  her  in- 
fant, on  the  way.  "When  at  work  in  the  field  or  patch,  she  would 
often  hang  her  tawny  bud,  "as  spring  does  its  blossoms,  on  the 
boughs  of  a  tree,  that  it  might  be  rocked  by  the  breezes  from  the 
land  of  souls,  and  soothed  to  sleep  by  the  lullaby  of  the  birds." 
And  it  often  occurred,  through  a  peculiar  sense  of  compassion 
among  the  aboriginal  tribes,  that  when  the  mother  died,  her  infant, 
if  very  young  and  feeble,  shared  the  grave  with  her. 

may  haye  been  spilt  between  us.  This  ceremony,  which,  by  the  delivery  of  so  many 
belts  of  wampum,  entailed  no  small  expense,  was  never  used  except  on  the  most  impor- 
tant occasions  ;  and  at  the  councils  with  Col.  Bouquet,  the  angry  warriors  seem  wholly 
to  have  dispensed  with  it. 

An  Indian  orator  was  provided  with  a  stock  of  metaphors,  which  he  always  made  use 
of  for  the  expression  of  certain  ideas.  Thus,  to  make  war  was  to  raise  the  hatchet ;  to  make 
peace  was  to  take  hold  of  thechain  of  friendship;  to  deliberate  was  tokindle  the  council- 
lire  ;  to  cover  the  bones  of  the  dead  was  to  make  i-eparation  and  gain  forgiveness  for  the 
act  of  killing  them.  A  state  of  war  and  disaster  was  typified  by  a  black  cloud  ;  a  btate 
of  peace  by  bright  sunshine,  or  by  an  open  path  between  the  two  nations. 

The  orator  seldom  spoke  without  careful  premeditation  of  what  he  was  about  to  say  ; 
and  his  memory  was  refreshed  by  belts  of  wampum, which  he  delivered  after  every  clause 
in  his  harangue,  as  a  pledge  of  the  sincerity  and  truth  of  his  words.  These  belts  were 
carefully  preserved  by  the  hearers,  as  a  substitute  for  written  records  ;  a  use  for  which 
they  were  the  better  adapted,  as  they  were  often  worked  in  hieroglyphics  expressing  the 
meaning  they  were  designed  to  preserve.  Thus,  at  a  treaty  of  peace,  the  principal  belt 
often  r>ore  the  figure  of  an  Indian  and  a  white  man  holding  a  chain  between  them. 
— [Parkman. 

*Recoll<  '-dions  of  Mrs.  Griswoldffc  rmc-rly  Mrs.  Peltier)  who,  with  her  grandfather  and 
grandmother,  Batis  Maloch  and  wife,  (deceased)  came  from  Detroit  to  Fort  Wayne  as 
curly  afs  1807.  Mr.  James  Peltier,  her  husband,  who  had,  for  some  years  previous, 
and  so  continued  for  some  years  after,  been  a  trader  at  this  point,  and  early  becoming 
warmly  attached  to  the  American  cause,  and  being  much  liked  by  the  Indians,  was 
long  most  useful  to  the  government  ns  an  interpreter  and  messenger,  carrying  messages 
often  at  wivat  risk  of  life,  but  always  with  success. 


30  HISTORY  OF  TORT  WAYNE. 

Many  years  airo,  (.no  of  the  early  mothers  of  Fort  Wayne,  with 
her  husband,  took  up  their  residence  in  a  little  hut  at  the  base  of 
the  hill,  just  west  of  the  bend  of  the  Maumce,  nearly  under  the  guns 
of  the  old  fort.  Mear  their  dwelling  tons  another  hut,  used  by  her 
husband  for  purposes  of  trade  with  the  Indians.  Both,  because  of 
their  many  acts  ot  attention  and  kindness,  had  early  won  the  savage 
heart,  and  being  able  to  speak  freely  with  the  Indians  in  their  native 
tongue,  were  often  visited  and  protected  by  the  red  children  of  the 
region.  Thev  seemed  indeed  to  have  regarded  her  as  a  kind  of  god- 


little  incident  will  strikingly  illustrate  her  relationship  to  them,-  and 
serve  to  exhibit  the  tender  regard  of  the  Indian  mother  for  her  off- 
spring. It  was  a  pleasant  period  of  the  year,  when  an  Indian 
woman,  approaching  the  edge  of  the  river,  not  far  from  the  little 
huts  in  question,  with  a  child  in  her  arms, seemingly  in  great  distress, 
suddenly  observing  our  pioneer  mother,  then  but  a  girl  ul  some 
sixteen  or  seventeen  summers,  cried  most,  piteously  to  Mrs.  1'.*  to 
come  to  her  aid.  Anxious  to  know  the  cause  of  the  woman's  dis- 
tress, and  feeling,  as  well,  a  desire  to  render  her  what  aid  she  could, 
Mrs.  P.  soon  stood  by  the  side  of  the  anxious  woman  in  the  water. 
The  Indian  woman's  story  was  quickly  told.  She  had,  but  a  little 
while  before,  observed  that  her  child  was  dying,  and  had  at  once 
hastened  to  the  river  to  afford  it  baptism  before  its  little  spirit 
should  take  its  flight.  "  If  the  little  papposa  die,''  said  she,  with  much 
anxiety, u  before  it  is  put  in  the  water,  it  can  only  see  the  spirits 
about  it — it  can't  go  up  where  the  Great  Spirit  is."  Readily  afford- 
ing the  woman  the  desired  aid,  the  child  was  speedily  baptised,  and 
the  mother's  heart  set  at  ease.  A  lew  moments  more,  and  the 
spirit  of  the  little  pappoose  was  gone.  The  great  Manito  of  the  red 
man  would  now  afford  it  a  place  in  his  jO}fful  household. 

One  of  the  prime  objects  of  the  Indian  mother,  as,  the  child  ad- 
vanced, was  to  enure  it  to  the  weather,  that  it  might  be  strong  and 
active.  With  this  view,  soon  after  being  taken  from  the  cradle, 
with  but  little  covering  upon  their  bodies,  the  children  were  permit- 
ted to  rollick  and  amuse  themselves  about  the  cabin,  that  they 
might'acquire,  as  well,  a  knowledge  of  the  use  of  their  limbs.  Free- 
dom of  will  being  the  highest  idea  of  governmental  excellence  with 
the  Indian,  there  were  no  special  restraints  of  family  government 
among  the  Miamies.  The  children  were  permitted  to  do  just  &* 
I  hey  wished,  seldom  if  ever  being  reproved  or  chastised  ;  and  yet, 
were  unaccustomed,  as  a  general  rule,  to  acts  of  special  incivility 

•Mrs.  Peltier,  (now  Griswold),  who  inf.,nntHl  the  writer  that,  in  those  early  time*' 
IIO\T  some  fiifty-eight  yeira  nj*o,  sh«  wa.<  often  called  upon  to  aid  the  Indians  in  thi-« 
way.  It  is  nuwt  prol>ubl«!  that  this  ivligioun  rite  came  originally  from  tlic  early 
ini-sioiittrirs  visiting  and  sojourning  here  ;  1'or  the  primitive  Indian  mother  serms  t-v.-r 
to  have  entertained  the  Iwh-f  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  placed  n<-:ir  lu-r  child  H  guar- 
dian »r~i'l  i.r  spirit  that  fi:u!i!  <-nal>l«'  it  i'>  •"uriin-iini  all  o'ntnele-,.  hnv  and  hnvaf'ler. 


TilAINIXG    OF   THE    YOUNG    WARRIOR.  31 

toward  any  of  the  older  members  of  the  tribe,  or  the  stranger 
when  visiting  them  in  times  of  peace.*  All  were  alike  attached  to 
their  young,  and  could  not,  under  any  circumstances,  permit  a  sep- 
aration, long-  at  a  time,  while  living-.  Their  own  native  aspirations 
led  the  young-  Indian  early  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  bow  and 
arrow,  the  tomahawk,  and  the  gun,  and  to  use  their  limbs  with  dex- 
terity in  running  and  swimming.  From  oft-repeated  stories  of  the 
prowess  and  daring  of  their  ancestors,  related  to  (hem  by  the 
older  members  of  the  tribes,  as  they  sat  about  the  fire  of  the  wig- 
wam, the  young  Indian  early  became  imbued  with  heroic  feelings, 
and  longed  to  become  famous  by  some  special  act  of  bravery  and 
valorous  exploit^  As  with  "  the  birth  of  an  offspring,  or  the  appear- 
ance of  a  iirst  tooth,"  there  was  merry-making  in  the  Indian  cabin, 
tso  also  the  wigwam  was  made  a  scene  of  festivity  upon  the  achieve- 
ment of  a  iirst  success  in  hunting.  Being  thus  early  schooled, 
dwelling  in.  and  subsisting  upon  the  wilds  of  nature,  it  was  not 
surprising  mat  the  young  Indian  soon  became  a  "  brave,"  longing- 
for  war,  and  to  adorn  his  person,  by  the  most  wily  means  and  acts 
of  ferocity,  if  need  be,  with  the  scalps  of  his  red  foe  man  and  the 
pale  face.  Nothing  was  so  joyous  to  his  soul — nothing  made  him 
more  eager  for  the  charge,  and  filled  his  heart  with  greater  determin- 
ation to  excel  as  a  warrior,  or  to  defeat  and  put  to  rout  and  to  death 
the  enemy  he  was  to  meet  at  a  special  time  and  place,  than  to  chant 
beforehand  the  wild  war  song,  and  dance  the  war-dance  around  the 
midnight,  camp-fires  or  through  the  streets  of  his  villages.  Fainted 
and  blackened  ;  with  the  feathers  of  the  eagle,  hawk,  or  other  bird, 
as  a  crown  about  their  heads,  or,  long,  black,  coarse  hair  streaming 
wildly  back  over  their  shoulders,  or  cut  close  to  their  skulls,  leaving 
only  a  top-lock,  standing  forth  in  all  their  native  ardor  and  self- 
excellence-— brave^  resolute,  determined  —  knowing  all  the  country 
around — every  point  of  possible  retreat  for  an  army — every  hollow, 
or  special  ravine — every  deep  thicket  and  clump  of  trees — every 
fording-place  along  the  rivers, — the  swamps  of  the  woods — every 
point  where  the  fallen  timber  was  most  abundant,  or  lay  the  upen 
spaces  and  prairies' — it  was  not  to  be  wondered  the  Miamies  were 
often  so  successful  in  their  efforts  against  the  early  pioneers  and 
the  armies  of  Harmar.  St.  Glair,  and  others,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  past  century.  Still  pOM^erful  at  that  period,  commanding  at  any 
moment,  a  numerous  alii,  with  the  memory  and  prowess  of  their 
ancestors,  and  many  marks  of  success  to  inspire  and  urge  them  on, 
they  were  not  easily  to  be  subdued  or  driven  from  the  home 
of  their  fathers. 

*  Recollect!  oiis  of  J.  P.  Hedges,  Esq.,  who  speaks  the  Miami  tongue  quite  fluently. 

•f-Tt  was  always  a  common  complaint  with  the  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  different 
tribes  throughout  the  country  .from  an  early  period,  that  "  they  could  not  restrain  their 
youiiif  men,  "  smd  when  their  early  teachings  are  taken  intoview.it  was  not  surprising 
that  the  young  men  of  the  tri'-es  were  so  often  unrestrainable. 


CHAPTER  III. 

lie  woodland,  through 

...  lence  oft  I  walk, 

Softly  whispering  on  the  breezes,    . 

bectns  to  come  the  red  man's  talk." — Benj.  S.  Parker. 


'  Through  the  woodland,  through  tlie  meadow, 
A-  in  silence  oft  I  walk, 


Indian  mo<1<!  of  r.-ckoninir  time— Hospitality  and  Etiquette — The  Stranger— The  "  l«:ven 
corn  dance,"  us  witnessed  in  l&tt — Curative  powers  of  the  Indian — Dr 
the  warrior — Pride  of  adornment — Restraint — Revenge — Emblems  served  for  name* 
—  A-i  incident — The  Miamies  and  1'ottawattamies — French  s.-ttlemenU  among 
tin-  Miamies — Suggestions  of  Dr.  Franklin — Chiefs  and  Sachems — Their  power — 
ll.-i'iirds  <>t'  treaties — Force  of  eloqouence — Indian  Dt-mocracy — The  XiUcne/.  In- 
dian*— The  Peace  pipe — Assemblies — Messengers  of  peace — Councils  at  the  Miami 
villages — An  incident — Indian  disregard  of  death — Declarations  of  war — Daiuv> — 
Religious  nature  of  the  Indian — The  medicine  men — Life  in  the  north-wett  lf»D 
years  ago— Civilization  here  150  years  hence. 

MIAMIES,  like  all  other  tribes  of  the   primitive   wilds 
of  America,  knew  nothing  of  days,  as  called  after  the  Saxon 
loods — took  no  note  of  time,  save  as  presented  by  "the  return 
of  snow  or  the  springing  of  the  flowers."   The  flight  of  the  birds 
told  them  of  the  passage  of  summer,  and  the  approach  ot  the 
hunting  season.   The  active  instinct  of  the  animal  world  about  them, 
the  appearance  of  the  sky,  &c.,  ever  served,  by  some  peculiar  ex- 
pression, to  remind  them  of  the  approach  of  storms  ;  and  the  time 
of  the  day  was  traced  by  the  shadows  of  the  trees,  and  other  objects, 
as  reflected  by  the  sun. 

In  times  of  peace,  ever  hospitable,  the  stranger, — and,  especially 
those  to  whom  they  were  attached,— were  always  welcome,  and 
feasted  with  the  best  his  cabin  afforded.  The  Indian  has  often, 
indeed,  been  known  to  go  without  food  himself  to  appease  the  hun- 
ger of  the  traveler  or  those  sojourning  with  them.  And  when  he 
visited  the  white  man,  or  was  invited  by  him  to  a  seat  at  his  table,  thft 
red  man  carried  with  him  his  own  peculiar  custom,  and  ate  heartily 
of  all  that  was  set  before  him.  He  was  most  sensitive,  too,  at  such 
times;  and,  for  any  member  of  the  family  with  whom  he  was  a 
guest,  to  have  begun  to  sweep  the  floor  before  the  departure  of 
his  Indian  visitor,  would  have  been  to  lead  the  red  man  to  infer 
that  you  wished  to  sweep  him  out  also.* 

«.-l   fuel  well  known  1<-  many  nf  the  <.A,\  eiti/.-ns  of  Fort    AV:ivne. 


HISTOKY  or  FORT  WAYNE.  80 

At  a  late  period  in  the  history  of  tlio  Indians  of  this  region,  it  was 
an  ordinary  thing  for  the  white  man  to  enter  the  cabin  of  the  red 
man  uninvited.  And  the  same  was  tnre  of  the  savage.  Nor  was 
it  a  custom  of  the  Indian  to  question  those  who  came  to  see  him  as 
to  their  business  there,  or  how  long  they  intended  to  remain.  Fond 
of  dancing,  their  festivals  were  many  ;  at  which  it  was  a  custom  to 
eat  heartily  of  everything  prepared  for  such  occasions.  And  it  was 
at  such  times  that  they  were  most  prodigal,  and  often  greatly  exhaust- 
ed their  supplies  for  the  winter. 

To  show  how  closely  allied  to  ancient  customs  were  the  modern 
habits  and  festivities  of  the  Miamies,  the  reader  can  now  look  in 
upon  a  gay  crowd  of  dancers  at  one  of  their  "  Green-Corn  "  dances, 
at  a  payment  of  the  Miamies  in  1833,  at  the  junction  of  the  Wabash 
and  Little  River.  "  There,  upon  our  arrival,'''  runs  the  account,*  "  at 
a  little  after  dark,  we  found  u  party  of  Indians — consisting  of  between 
two  and  three  hundred — assembled  for  the  purpose  of  participating 
in  or  witnessing  the  dance.  A  ring  was  formed,  surrounded  by  a 
large  number  of  Indian  spectators,  and  about  fifty  whites — in 
which  were  placed  the  male  portion  of  the  dancers,  headed  by  the 
leaders.  At  a  signal  from  the  music,  which  consisted  of  a  tap  on 
the  drum,  of  a  dull,  heavy  tone,  by  one  Indian,  and  a  clatter  of  a 
set  of  deer  hoofs  by  another,  the  leaders  broke  forth  in  a  wild  song 
of  a  few  ejaculatory  notes  responded  to  by  the  party,  and  the  danc- 
ing and  singing  commenced.  The  women  then  fell  in  one  by  one  ; 
and,  selecting  their  partners  as  they  danced  along,  the  party  was 
completed.  The  dancers  all  appeared  in  their  very  '  best,'  and 
had  attached  to  their  ankles  a  profusion  of  small  tinkling  bells.  The 
music  consisted  simply  of  the  repeated  single  taps  of  the  said  drum, 
accompanied  with  the  continuous  clatter  of  the  deer-hoofs;  while 
the  'figure'  was  composed  only  of  three  short,  rapid  leaps  upon  the 
balls  of  the  feet,  scarcely  raising  them  from  the  ground,  and  slight- 
ly advancing  at  the  same  time.  Occasionally,  however,  an  '  extra 
touch '  would  be  given  by  the  dancers,  in  some  antic  or  other,  which 
it  would  be  impossible  to  describe.  In  this  way  the  dancing,  sing- 
ing-, tapping  of  the  drum,  clattering  of  deer-hoofs,  tinkling  of  bells, 
and  an  occasional  yell,  forming  a  wild  and  singular  medley, 
which  continued  for  about  halt  an  hour,  when  the  party,  hav- 
ing danced  around  the  circle  some  half  dozen  times,  and  having 
gone  through  the  first  'set,'  the  leader  stopped  arid  raised  the  yell — 
the  men  of  the  party  responded  in  the  same  way ;  and  the  out- 
siders raised  a  most  furious  din  of  yells,  as  congratulatory  to  the 
performance  of  the  dancers.  Here  a  'recess'  of  about  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  took  place;  and  a  confused  scene  of  congratulations,  talk- 
ing, laughing  and  yelling,  ensued.  It  may  be  that,  during  the 
interval,  many  gallant  things  were  said  by  the  grotesque  and  gaudy 
beaux,  or  many  witticisms  and  tender  sentiments  expressed  by  the 
fair  Miami  damsels ;  but  of  this  we  were  not  apprised.  It  is  cer- 

*  As  witnessed  and  dc-wiJv-rl  by  Olias.  11.  L:wlK  Y.*\.  (.1) 


:',[  Trn-:  Mi:iw  m:  Mi:x. 

tain,  however,  that  the  men  behaved  with  a  groat  deal  of  gallantry  i 
and  that  no  drinking  or  rowdy  ing  -whatever  occurred  upon  tbfc 
occasion.  After  the  conclusion  of  the  recess,  the  parties  resumed 
their  positions,  and  re-commenced  the  dance.  The  same  music, 
dancing,  singing,  tinkling  of  bells,-  and  .yelling  was  repeated,  as  in 
the  first  instance;  and  thus  continuing  till  about  TJ  o'clock  at 
night,  the  party  then  breaking  up  in  one  long  and  loud  round  of  yclR" 

\Vith  the  red  man,  disease  was  the  result  of  some  natural  derange- 
ment, and  the  Medicine  Man,  often  strangely  skilled  in  an  under- 
standing of  the  kind,  quality,  and  quantity  of  some  peculiar  natural 
remedial,  by  the  aid,  of  his  manipulative  powers,  at  once  set  about 
a  cure  on  natural  principles  ;  and  was  seldom  —  in  part  because  of 
the  great  faith  of  his  patient  —  baffled  in  his  efforts  of  relict.  Among 
these,  the  Miamies,  at  different  periods,  as  known  to  many  early 
Bettlers,  had  several  Medicine  Men  of  remarkable  ability. 

The  apparel  and  address  of  the  warrior  ever  stood  as  a  history  of 
his  achievements  in  war  —  his  body  variously  tattooed  —  often  with 
objects  representing  different  animals,  &c.,  and  frequently  with  the 
most  brilliant  dyes.  It  was  a  custom  in  their  ordinary  adornments 
to  paint  the  end  of  the  nose,  and  around  the  eyes,  and  the  eye  brows^ 
with  black  or  some  bright  colors,  and  the  other  portions  of  the  face 
with  vermilion,  with  perhaps  stripes  running  from  one  point  of  the 
face  to  the  other.  Especially  —  not  altogether  unlike  many  of  the 
present  civilisation,  —  when  visiting,  or  assembling  in  council,  they 
resorted  to  great  pains  in  the  arrangement  of  their  dress,  decora- 
tion and  painting  of  their  persons;  and,  what  Marest  wrote,  years 
ago,  of  the  Illinois*  Indians,  was  equally  true  of  the  Miamies  — 
they  were  "absolute  masters  of  themselves,  subject  to  no  law." 
Each  seemed  to  have  been  in  a  great  degree,  at  least,  his  own  pro- 
tector —  and  as  often  their  own  avengers.  With  the  Indian,  when 
violence  had  resulted  in  the  death  of  a  kindred,  at  the  hands  of 
another  and  different  race  or  tribe,  it  was  a  steadfast  belief  that  the 
xpirit  of  the  deceased  could  not  rest  in  peace  or  feel  appeased  until 
a  retaliation  Was  consummated.!  To  accomplish  this,  it  is  a  noted 
fact  that  an  Indian  would  go  n  thousand  miles  for  the  purpose  of 
revenge,  over  hills  and  mountains  ]  through  swamps  and  briars  ; 
over  broad  lakes,  rapid  rivers,  and  deep  creeks  ;  and  all  the  way 
endangered  by  poisonous  snakes,  exposed  to  the  extremeties  of  heat 
and  cold,  to  hunger  and  thirst.  In  the  carrying  out  of  this  spirit, 
nations}  and  families  carried  their  feuds  often  to  great  lengths, 

*  The  Miami.--  called  tlie  Illinois  tlicir  cousins. 

t  It  i-«  w.-ll  known  h.-n-  to  niiiny  old  «  -tilers  that  an  Indian,  many  .Tears  aeo,  follow  - 
<~1  11  white  niiin,  who  had  killed  his  brother.  Irorn  point  to  point,  Jo'r  two  years,  1"  for.- 
lie  »ue«'.-,-d.-d  in  fcTMMBBg  the  death  of  hi*  relative,  by  killing  the  man  he  had  so  lout,' 
an-l  MI  assiduously  followed  uud  watched. 

t  Thtrchftd  long  existed  a  spirit  i.f  animosity  Iwtwcen  the  Miamies  and  the  Potta- 
and  tin-  latt.-r  w.r-  v.-i-y  sun-  t..  mnl  the  m-itrhborhood  of  the  former  if  in 


lii|i».r.  Thin  may  have  arisen  in  part  from  the  faet  that,  in  the"  early  part  of  the  Ifth 
.-eatury,  the  1'otU*  attaiuu*  had  crowded  the  Miuuijes  from  th.-'ir  dwelling  ut  Chiea- 
•'».'  '  —  SchooleraM  . 


HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE.  35 

from  which  a  reconciliation  was  only  attainable  through  gifts  of 
sufficient  quantity  "  to  cover  up  the  graves  of  the  dead."  The  pres- 
ents once  accepted  served  both  to  pacify  the  living  and  the  dead.* 
In  the  relationship  of  families,  emblems  served  for  names.  The 
iiguro  of  a  crow,  the  hawk,  the  turtle,  <fcc.,  &c.,  would  serve  as  a 
distinction  or  name — as,  among  the  civilized,  one  is  known  as  tho 
Brown,  another  the  Smith  family,  and  so  on;  which,  to  the  Indian, 
was  as  rational  arid  comprehensive,  as  to  us  of  to-day  is  our  style  of 
distinction  in  this  relation  ;  and  in  many  instances,  in  so  far,  at  least, 
as  real  beauty,  simplicity,  and  convenience  was  wont  to  be  mani- 
fest, was  quite  as  irttelligiblie  and  serviceable  as  the  present  system 
of  civilization  in  this  particular. 

"  The  rose  by  any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet." 

At  a  late  period  in  their  history,  however,  the  Miamies,  through 
their  intercourse  with  the  French  and  others,  often  adopted  other 
names — as,  in  the  case  of  their  chiefs,  Le.  Gris,  Blcnardville,  La 
Fontaine,  Godfri,  George  Hunt,  <fec., — the  first  four  being  related  to 
families  then  of  distinction  in  France,  f 

The  quiet,  persevering,  determined  nature  of  the  Miamies  was 
over  a  matter  of  singular  interest.  If  the  death  of  a  brother  was  to 
be  revenged,  they  proceeded  quietly,  about  the  work.  Patience,  at 
such  a  time,  was  called  actively  into  play  ;  and,  if  need  be,  months 
might  roll  away  before  a  blow  was  struck.  As  illustrative  of  this 
fact,  a  few  years  prior  to  the  war  of  1812,  a  man  of  rather  reckless 
character,  and  who  hated  the  Indian  with  a  rancor  only  equalled 
by  his  unyielding  persistence  in  what  he  believed  or  surmised  to 
be  false  or  true,  regardless  of  contradiction  or  premonition  by  those 
best  able  to  give  them,  moved  to  this  point,  and  built  himself  a  hut 
:i  few  miles  from  Fort  Wayne,  near  Cedar  Creek.J  From  the  first, 
lie  is  said  never  to  have  lost  an  opportunity  to  speak  his  mind  as  to 
the  "rascally  red  skins;"  and  often  used  very  severe  language  to 

K  Park  man. 

fin  1754  Gov.  Morris,  addressing  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly,  said  the  French  were 
"making  a  settlement  of  three  hundpod  familiefl  in  the  country  of  the  T.wigfhtwWs," 
(Miamies.)  It  was  also  in  this  year,  that  Benjamin  Franklin'  proposed  the  establish- 
ment of  strong  English  colonies  in  the  territory  north-west  of  the  Ohio,  as  a  means  of 
preventing  "the  dreaded  junction  of  the  French  settlements  in  Canada  with  those  of 
Louisa  na," — the  Doctor  proposjng  to. plant  one  colony  in  the  valley  of  the  Scioto;  to 
establish  small  garrisons  at,  Buffalo  Ureek,  bn  the  t)hio;  at  the  mouth  bf  Tioga,  south 
side  of  Lake  Erie ;  at  Hockhocking  ;  and  at  or  hear  the  mouth  of  the 
Wabash.  He  presented  also  the  expediency  of  capturing  "  Sandusky,  a  French  fort 
near  Lake  Erie,"  and  also  suggested  that  "  all  the  little  French  forts  south  and  west  of 
the  lakes,  quite  to  the  Mississippi,  be  Removed  ot  taken  and  garrisoned  by  the  English." 
"  Every  fort,"  said  he,  "should  have  a  small  settlement  around  it, ;  as  the  fort  would 
protect  the  settlers,  and  the  settlers  defend  the  fort,  and  supply  it  with  provisions." 
1  he  propositions  thus  presented  by  Dr.  Franklin  were  but  foreshadowihgs,  in  part,  at 
least,  of  the  results  that  followed  but  a  few  years  later,  when  the  English  became  the 
temporary  masters  of  about  "  all  the  little  French  forts  south  and  west  of  the  lakes." 
Providence  had  not  then  enabled  the  Doctor  to  see  the  great  future  that  was  before  him, 
When  the  illuminations  of  '7G  were  to  begin  a  new  eia  in  fortifications  and  free  institu- 
tions. 

iAs  related  by  the  r-ldor  Peltier,  ami  told  the  wrifor  bv  Mr.  Louis  Peltier,   son  of  the 
lWrn<>r. 


36  AN 

ox[  .  .ntip.'ithy  towards  them.  Some  lime  subsequent  to  his 

'..•rtlemcm.  as -mentioned,  his  horse  strayed  away,  and,  after  a  fruit- 
M-.irch,  made  bold  to  accuse  the  Miamies  oi'  having  stolen  the 
animal,  and  declared  that  he  would  kill  some  one  of  the  Indians  for 
it.  Talking  thus  loudly  on  one  occasion,  in  the  hearing  of  the 
elder  Peltier,  long  a  trader  among  the  Indians,  in  this  and  adja- 
cent regions,  and  who  knew  the  Indian  character  well,  Mr.  P.  very 
readily  told  him  that  he  did  not  believe  the  Indians  had  taken  his 
horse,  and  that  he  would  advise  him  not  to  interfere  with  them — 
that  he  would  suffer  for  it  if  he  did.  But  the  man  was  resolute  in 
his  belief  and  determination,  and  paid  but  little  attention  to  the 
advice  of  Peltier,  and  went;hvay.  IS'ot  long  after  this,  walking  along 
near  the  St.  Joseph,  a  short  distance  above  the  confluence  of  the  St. 
Joseph  and  the  St.  Mary,  with  his  gun  on  his  shoulder,  the  stranger 
suddenly  observed  nn  Indian  a  short  distance  in  advance  of  him, 
near  the  edge  of  the  river,  fishing.  The  season  of  verdure  and 
Bwest-scented  flowers  had  come  again — it  was  spring-time,  t;  ever 
merry  May ;' — and  the  birds  were  again  singing  their  sweet  and  joy- 
ful notes.  The  lost  horse  had  not  yet  been  found,  and  now  was  a 
good  opportunity  to  "kill  an  Injun,1'  thought  the  man.  Looking 
carefully  about  him,  in  every  direction,  and  seeing  no  one,  he  took 
deliberate  aim  and  fired.  The  shot  proved  effectual — the  Indian 
rolled  from  his  position,  and  expired.  Again  looking  carefully 
about  him,  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  if  anyone  had  witnessed  the  act, 
and  observing  no  one,  he  at  once  approached  the  body,  placed  some 
stones  in  the  red  man's  blanket,  in  order  to  sink  the  carcass,  then 
ATrapping  the  blanket  about  the  murdered  Indian,  hurled  the  body 
into  the  stream,  from  whence  he  carefully  strode  away,  gloating 
within  himself  at  his  seeming  seccess. 

But,  lo !  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stream,  concealed  by  a  thick 
underbrush,  lay,  unobserved,  with  eyes  glaring  upon  the  entire 
action  of  the  new-comer,  a  faithful  squaw  of  the  murdered  Indian, 
who,  though  giving  no  warning  of  the  danger  that  stood  so  near 
her  companion,  fearing  lest  she  too  might  fall  a  victim  to  his  work 
ot  death,  yet  bore  testimony  to  the  whole  scene,  and  soon  gave; 
:4iig  to  her  Indian  friends  as  to  what  had  occurred.  All  was 
quiet — a  resolution  was  quickly  formed.  "  White  man  must  die," 
they  whispered  among  themselves.  The  shade  of  their  murdered 
brother  called  for  revenge. 

The  conduct  of  the  stranger  quickly  reached  the  ears  of  Mr.  P., 
who  readily  surmised  the  result,  and" watched  the  course  of  events. 
Time  wore  away— months  passed— the  new-comer  had  found  his 
fimve — and  all  seemed  to  have  been  forgotten  ;  when  lo  !  one  bright 
morning,  in  the  month  of  October,  the  sun's  march,  the  falling  leaves 
of  Autumn,  and  the  chill  winds,  all  giving  token  of  the  approach  of 
—the  little  log-cabin  of  the  stranger  was  seen  to  be  in  ruins, 
and  the  inmates  gone,  no  one  knew  whither,  save  the  friends  of  the 
murdered  Indian  and  the  Great  Spirit  of  the  red  man.  The  revenge- 


HISTOE.Y  op  FoiiT  WAYI\E.  37 

was  complete,  and  the  departed  spirit  qf  their  murdered  brother 
could  now  rest  in  peace. 

How  man}'-  similar  tragedies  may  have  been  enacted  in  the 
regions  of  Ke-ki-ong-a  during  the  period  of  Indian  life  here,  we 
know  not;  but  doubtless  many  a  tragic  event  of  this  kind  took  place 
at  this  point,  now  known  only  in  the  unwritten  pages  of  the  Past. 

As  the  head  of  each  family  was  its  chief,  so  each  village  had  its 
head  chief  or  sachem ;  and  though  the  villagers  were  by  no  means 
restricted  in  their  individual  relations,  each  family  being  privileged 
to  exercise  its  own  peculiar  ideas  of  domestic  life,  &c.,  independent 
of  the  other,  if  desiring,  in  every  village, — yet,  in  a  general  sense, 
the  habits  and  customs  of  each  village  and  family  were  much  the 
same  among,  not  only  the  Miamies,  but  most  tribes  of  the  north- 
west. 

The  rule  and  power  of  control  of  a  chief,  sachem,  medicine  man, 
prophet,  or  indeed  any  member  of  a  tribe,  much  as  with  the  present 
state  of  civilization  in  America  and  other  parts  of  the  globe,  depend- 
ed largely  upon  the  amount  of  eloquence  the  speaker  could  bring 
to  bear  upon  his  people — a  distinction  for  bravery,  or  the  strongest 
will,  as  often  gave  the  Indian  prominence  among  the  tribes  as  those 
acquiring  and  exercising  power  by  hereditary  descent;  and  while, 
in  many  respects,  the  government  of  the  Indian  seemed  to  partake 
of  the  Monarchical,  it  was  yet  of  the  Democratic  order;  for  no  ques- 
tion of  grave  importance  ever  presented  itself  for  consideration,  but 
there  was  sure  to  follow  an  assemblage  of  the  braves  in  council, 
where  no  action  would  be  concluded  wherein  "the  people  were 
averse."  And  it  was  at  such  times  that  the  eloquent  and  btern- 
willed  often  held  swa}'.* 

To  preserve  a,  record  of  treaties,  was  to  carefully  lay  by  their 
wampum  belts.  In  cases  of  important  councils  between  nations, 
exchange  of  gifts  and  belts  was  mutual,  by  which  each  speaker  wa« 
aiso  greatly  aided  in  memory.  The  holding  of  a  bundle  of  small 
sticks,  of  a  certain  number,  by  the  speaker,  on  such  occasions  was 
also  common,  for  each  of  which,  1  he  envoy  from  one  nation  to  another 
would  recite  a  message  ;f  and  messengers  were  always  selected  with 

*•''  It  is  of  the  Natchez  Indians  that  the  most  wonderful  tales  of  despotism  and  aristo- 
cratic distinction*  have  been  promulgated.  Then- chiefs,  like  those  of  the  Hurous,  wore 
esteemed  descendants  of  the  sun,  had  greater  power  than  could  have  been  established 
in  the  colder  regions  of  the  north,  where  the  severities  of  nature  compel  the  savage  to 
rely  on  himself  and  be  free  ;  yet,  as  the  Natchez,  in  exterior,  resembled  the  tribes  by 
whieh  they  were  surrounded*,  so  their  customs  *nd  institutions  were  but  more  marked 
developements  of  the  same  characteristics.  Everywhere  at  the  north ,  there^  was  the 
name  distribution  into  families,  and  the  same  order  in  each  separate  town.  The  affairs 
relating  to  'he  whole  nation,  were  transacted  in  general  council,  and  with  Kiich  equality, 
and  such  zeal  for  the  common  good,  that,  while  any  one  might  have  dissented  with 
impunity,  the  voice  of  the  tribe  would  yet  be  unanimous  in  its  decision." — Bancroft-'* 
His.  17.  S.,  vol.  ',},  pages  '27d  and  279. 

t  Referring  to  the  Indians  of  the  north.  Bancroft  says  :  "  Their  delight  was  in  aesem 
Wing  together,  and  listening  t  >  7n.-s-;-n^«:-n-  from  abroad.     St-ak-d  in  a  semicircle  on  th 
ground,  in  double  or  triple  rows,  with  the  kiK-os  almost  m«:--;-ting  the  face, — tho  pointed 
and  tattooed  chiefs  adorned  with  skins  ami  plumes,  with  the  beaks  of  the  rftd-bird,  or 
Ihe    e!a-vs  of  the  bear,— each  listen'.-r  rerlirps  with  a*pipe  in  hi?  mouth,  a 


;»S  Tin     Fi;n..M>i.Y    L'AI.I  MI.T 

a  view  :»s  well  to  ability  as  to  the  knowledge  oi  the  task  to  be  per- 
formed. Ami  it  is  said  that  "  often  :in  orator,  without  the  aid  of 
rank  as  a  chief,  by  the  brilliancy  of  his  eloquence,  swayed  the 
minds  of  a  confederacy." 

Another  interesting  feature  in  Indian  usage,  was  the  Peace-Pipe, 
or  Friendly  Calumet,  The  writings  concerning  the  early  mission- 
aries, traders,  explorers,  and  military  officers,  make  repeated  men- 
tion of  it;  and  the  beauty  and  simplicity  of  the  custom  must  be  read- 
ily seen  and  admitted.  The  calumet,  to  the  red  man,  was  always 
esteemed  and  reverenced  as  the  most  sacred  of  all  their  emblem- 
atic relations  and  devices;  and  i»o  village,  in  earlier  times,  when  the 
red  man  held  sway  over  the  western  wilds,  was  without  its  special- 
ly ornamented  calumet,  —  which  was  often  adorned  with  the  feathers 
of  the  bird  of  liberty,  the  eagle,  or  other  plumage  or  ornamental 
device,  and  always  "  consecrated  in  the  general  assembly  of  the 
nation."  The  messenger,  traversing  the  wildest  regions,  on  an 
errand.of  friendship,felt  always  secure,by  a  presentation  of  the  peace- 
pipe,  from  all  attack  from  ferocious  or  unfriendly  tribes.  The 
primitive  custom  of  the  messengers  of  Peace,  bearing  the  calumet, 
was  for,  the  envoys  to  approach  within  a  given  distance  of  the  village, 
lirst  making  a  loud  noise,  then  seating  themselves  upon  the  ground. 
Then  the  villagers,  headed  by  their  principal  chief,  or  sachem,  bear- 
ing the  peace-pipe  in  his  hand,  all  singing  the  Indian  song  of  peace, 
went  forth  to  meet  them.  Approaching  the  envoys,  the  latter  rose 
to  greet  them,  they,  too,  chanting  a  hymn,  "  to  put  away  all  wars, 
and  to  bury  all  revenge.  "  At  once  exchanging  pipes,  and  smoking 
freely,  peace  was  terminated,  and  the  messengers  were  escorted  to 
the  villages  where  it  was  made  known,  in  loud  declamation,  that 
the  strangers  were  friends;  and  a  great  feast  of  hominy,  dog,  and 
bear's  meat,  was  spread  out  and  partaken  of  in  honor  qf  the  messen- 
gers. 

As  the  ancient  Twightwec  (Miami)  villages,  located  within  and 
about  the  present  site  of  Fort  Wayne,  in  the  words  of  their  famous 
chief,  Little  Turtle,  formed  "  that  glorious  gate  which  the  Miami*  • 
had  the  happiness  to  own,  and  through  which  all  the  good  words  of 
their  chiefs  Had  to  pass  from  the  north  to  the  south,  and  from  the 
east  to  the  west,"  how  many  such  solemn  and  interesting  occasions  . 
a>  that  of  exchanging  the  friendly  calumet  and  entertaining  the  cm- 
l.a»y  of  a  distant  tribe  with  a  greatfcast,  may  have  made  the  woods 
a  nd  surrounding  vales  of  this  locality  reverberate  with  the  glad 
strains  of  the  Indian  peace  song  and  jubilant  dance  of  the  villagers, 
none  can  now  tell  ;  yet  the  strong  supposition  is  that  there  were 
many  such  occasions  here. 


deep  silence.—  they  would  give  solemn  attention  to  the  speaker,  who,  with  irr-al  action 
;.n.l  energy  of  language,  delivered  hi«  menage  ;  and,  if  his  eloquence  pleased,  they 
.-i.-.  rued  him  as  a  god.  Decorum  was  nev.  r  "broken  ;  there  were  n*YCT  two  speakers 
struggling  to  anticipate  each  other  ;  they  did  not  express  tlx-ir  <].!.  •.  -n  by  Mows  ;  they 
i-Mrnmed  passionate  invective;  the  debate  was  nev»-r  disturbed  l'\-  an  uproar  •  «i  nation's 
of  order  were  unknown."-  -Hi*.  U.  S.  vol.  '3,  page  279. 


UlSTOUV    OF    1'VUT    WAYNE.  ol) 

The  Indian,  though  hoUing  life  as  dear,  perhaps,  as  most  mortals, 
had,  yet,  withal,  a  singular  disregard  for  death — a  stoical  indifference 
and  fortitude  that  rendered  him  seemingly  unsusceptible  of  pain ; 
and,  as  all  history  relating  to  the  Indians  most  fully  attests,  at  times, 
could  kill  and  scalp  a  savage  or  civilized  foe  with,  as  much  ease 
and  jjest  as  if  partaking  of  a  pot  of  hominy,  or  feasting  upon  a  portion 
of  roast  bear. 

Some  fifty  years  ago,  a  party  of  Indians,  as  was  often  thpjr  habit 
nt  that  period,  had,  congregated  about  the  little  trading  hut  ot  J. 
Peltier, — then  conspicuous  at  the  ibot  of  the  hill,  just  below  the  old 
fort, — avd  becoming  somewhat  intoxicated,  two  of  the  party,  of  dif- 
ferent tribes,  became  excited  about  some  trivial  matter,  anci  one  of 
them  drew  a  knife  from  his  belt,  and  cut  the  other  across  the  abdo- 
men so  severely  as  to  let  his  intestines  partially  out.*  Seating  him- 
self upon  the  ground,  the  wounded  Indian  soon  deliberately  drew 
his  own  knife,  cut  a  piece  of  flesh  from  the  oufer  part  of  the  stomach, 
and  began  to  eat  it. 

TJie  Indian  cutting  him,  suddenly  seeing  this,  proudly  ejaculated 
Del-au-aweak!  (that's  a  brave  man,  or  he  is  a  brave  man !)  And 
to  show  his  compassion  for  the  wounded  brave,  he  at  once  apprqach- 
ed  him,  and,  with  a  blow  from  his  tomahawk,  ended  the  further  sut- 
fering  of  the  wounded  Indianf 

In  the  ancient  songs  of  the  red  men  there  was  always  a  vein  of 
disregard  pr  contempt  for  death ;  and  it  was  no  uncpmmon  filing 
for  the  chip  is  to  declare  that  u  the  spirits  on  high  woqlcj  repeat  their 
names."  Where  they  wished  to  exhibit  a  spirit  pf  defiance 
towards  an  antagonist,' it  was  no  unusual  tiling  for  the  Indian  to 
prepare  a  red-colored  belt,  a  small  bundle  of  "bio  ody  sticks,"and 
dispatch  them  to  the  enemy.  In  early  times,  the  Indians  were  most, 
feared  when  they  prowled  about  in  sm,all  parties,  laying  in  wait, 
here  and  there — suddenly  bounding  upon  a  small  settlement,  or 
waylaying  the  emigrant.  Concealment  and  surprise  constituted 
their  highest  sense  of  warfare.  AVheu  least  anticipated,  they  were 
upon  and  scalping  the  early  settler.  And  sad  Avas  the  havoc  many 
times  during  the  pioneer  days  of  the  western  frontiersmen,  On  more 
than  one  occasion,  as  subsequent  pages  Ay  ill  attest,  has  the  tragedy 
of  an  Indian  massacre  been  enacted  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
territory  of  the  Miamies. 

*Capt.  Wells,  who  resided  at  this  point  for  many  years  with  the  Miamies,  while  in 
Philadelphia  with  Little  Turtle,  iu  171)7,  in  a  conversation  with  the  distinguished 
French  philosopher  and  traveler,  Count  Volney,  referring  to^  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
Miamies,  at  old  Fort  Minmis,  here,  known  as  Blue  Jocky,  eaid  :  "  This  man,  (on*  one 
occasion)  when  druuk.  met  an  old  enemy,  to  whom  lie  had  borne  a  grudge  of  twenty - 
two  years  standing.  Blue  Jocky  seized  the  opportunity  and  killed  linn.  Xextduy  all 
the  family  were  in  arms  to  revenge  the  murder.  He  came  to  the  fort,  and  said  to  the 
commanding  officer,  who  repeated  the  tale  to  me,  '  Let  them  kill  me.  It  is  but  right.. 
My  heart  betrayed  me,  and  the  liquor  robbed  me  of  my  wits.  Hut  they  threatened  to 
kill  my  son,  and  that  was  riot  just.  Father,  try  to  make  it  up  for  me.  1  will  give  them 
all  I  have  ;  my  two  horses,  my  trinkets,  my  weapons,  except  one  set,  and.  it  r.hut  will 
not  content  them,  I  will  m<vt'thern  at  any  time  and  place,  and  they  may  kill  me.' ' 

For  some  -years  after  the  war  of  1812,  it  was  no  uncommon  tiling  i'or  them  t,o  kill  e;ic!i 
other  litre  i'a  their  drunken  ;•;  --:_.  :!ll-_Wkctio!i..,  ol'  Mr:.  lirj^nvoM.  . 


4$  IXDIAN 

Every  people,  however  barbarous  or  civilized,  ever  had  their 
seasons  of  relaxation  and  merry-making.  Among  the  most  favor- 
ite pastimes  of  the  Miamies,  were  their  dances. 

In  the  spring  time,  as  a  matter  of  reverence  to  the  Great  Spirit 
(Mm-h-a-te-Auceke),  "the  man  with  the  black  robe;  the  good  man 
or  preacher," — asking  him  to  aid  in  the  production  or  growth  of  a 
bountiful  crop,  they  had  the  corn-planting  dance.  A  great  deal 
of  importance  was  attached  to  this  dance,  which  was  conducted 
with  an  air  of  marked  solemnity  and  earnestness, — all  the  villagers 
partaking  in  it.* 

Ir  was  a  time-honored- custom  with  the  Miamies  and  most  tribes 
of  the  West,  that  when  a  member  of  a  family  died,  a  meeting  ot' 
the  family  and  immediate  villagers  would  take  place  at  a  certain 
time,  subsequent  to  the  death  of  the  person,  with  a  view  to  replac- 
ing the  deceased,  which  was  done  by  means  of  a  game  of  chance, 
there  being  often  a  number  of  candidates  for  the  place.  The  lucky 
one  at  once  fell  heir  to  all  the  effects  of  the  deceased.  After  which 
they  all  joined  in  a  merry  dance,  called  the  Replacement  Dance. 

The  Beggar  Dance  was  also  frequent  here;  but  was  seldom  if 
•  •\'-r  indulged  in  by  the  Miamies.  The  Pottawattamies,  who  were 
frequently  here,  with  perhaps  a  few  others  of  the  Shawanoe,  Wyan- 
dot,  or  Kickapoo  nations,  were  the  only  ones  who  commonly  indulg- 
ed in  this  dance. 

The  object  of  the  beggar  dance  was  to  obtain  presents,  or  indeed 
anything  the  stranger,  trader,  or  settler  might  feel  disposed  to  give 
them ;  and,  with  no  covering  on  their  bodies,  but  a  part  of  a  deer 
or  other  skin  abou^  their  waists,  the  rest  of  the  body  and  lace  paint- 
ed with  some  bright  colors,  with  perhaps  some  gay  ornament  or 
feathers,  about  their  heads,  often  several  in  number,  would  pass 
from  agency  to  agency,  in  front  oi  whose  doors  they  would 
go  through  the  liveliest  movements  of  dancing,  singing,  &c.,  which, 
tii  the  spectators,  was  often  very  amusing,  and  who  seldom  failed  to 
give  the  rude  dancers  some  tobacco,  a  loaf  or  two  of  bread,  some 
whiskey,  or  other  article  that  would  be  pleasing  to  them. 

The  Indians  of  the  Northwest  had  many  social  pastimes,  and 
tln-ir  compilmentai'y  dances  were  probably  frequent.  The  "  medi- 
cine-dance" was  one  of  some  rarity,  which  usually  took  place  only 
out  of  respect  or  courtesy  to  the  medicine-men.  In  the  complimen- 
tary dance,  it  was  a  custom  to  obtain  permission  of  the  party  to  "be 
complimented  to  dance  for  him."  This  granted,  preparations  were 
made  by  painting  the  face  elaborately,  and  marking  the  body, 
which  was  usually  bare  about  the  chest  and  shoulders.  In  addition 
to  this,  a  profusion  of  ornaments,  in  the  form  of  feathers,  etc.,  were 
added  to  the  hair ;  and  most  "  happy  was  he,  who,  in  virtue  of  hav- 
ing taken  one  or  more  scalps,  was  entitled  to  proclaim  it  by  a  cor- 
). -pondinir  number  of  eagle's  feathers.  The  less  fortunate  made  a  sub- 
si  itutc  of  the  feathers  of  the  wild  turkey,"  or  other  game.  For  which 
purpose  too,  the  fowls  of  the  pioneers  were  often  closely"  plucked." 

*  John  V.  II-  •]     i  +Thc  Pottavratamics  lived  a  feu-  ruiki  north  of  Ft.  Wayne. 


HlSTOKY    OF   FOKT   WAYNE.  -il 

The  preparations  for  the  complimentary  dance  being  ready,  the 
dancers  congregated  at  some  point  selected,  "  and  then  inarched  to 
the  spot  in  view  for  the  dance,  attended  by  the  dull,  coarse  sound 
of  the  Indian  drum  and  shee-shee-qua,  or  rattle.  Arranging  them- 
selves in  a  circle,  they  would  dance  with  violent  contortions  and 
gesticulations,  some  of  them  graceful,  others  only  energetical,  the 
squaws,  who  usually  stood  a  little  apart,  and  mingled  their  discor- 
dant, voices  with  the  music  of  the  instruments,  rarely  participating 
in  the  dance.  Occasionally,  hoiveyer,  when  excited  by  the  general 
gaiety,  a  few  of  them  would  form  a  circle  outside  and  perform  a 
sort  of  ungraceful  up-and-dowrn  movement,  which  possessed  no 
merit,  save  the  perfect  time  which  was  kept,  and  for  which  the 
Indians  seemed,  without  exception,  to  have  possessed  a  natural  ear. 
The  dance  finished,  which  was  often  only  when  the  strength  of  the 
dancers  was  quite  exhausted,  a  quantity  of  presents  were  brought 
and  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  circle,  by  request  of  the  party  com- 
plimented. An  equitable  distribution  of  the  gifts  having  taken 
place,  and  the  object  of  the  gathering  terminated,  all  withdrew."* 

The  medicine-dance  was  mainly  to  celebrate  the  power  and  skill 
of  the  Medicine  Man  in  'the  cure  of  disease,  and  as  a  means  of 
respect  to  him  as  a  supposed  interpreter  of  the  will  and  desires  of 
the  Great  Spirit,  as  related  to  the  direction  of  his  people. 

Says  Mrs.  J.  II.  Kinzie,  in  her  interesting  narration  of  experien- 
ces and  observations  among  the  Indians  of  the  North-West,  during 
the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  "a  person  was  selected  to 
join  the  fraternity  of  the  'Medicine  Man'  by  those  initiated,  chiefly 
on  account  of  some  skill  or  sagacity  that  had  been  observed  in  him. 
Sometimes  it  happened  that  a  person  who  had  had  a  severe  illness 
which  had  yielded  to  the  prescriptions  of  one  of  the  members,  was 
considered  a  proper  object  of  choice  from  a  sort  of  claim  thus 
established.  When  he  was  about  to  be  initiated,  a  great  feast  was 
made,  of  course  at  the  expense  of  the  candidate,  for  in  the  most 
simple,  as  in  the  most  civilized  life,  the  same  principle  of  politics 
held  good,  and  '  honors  were  to  be  paid  for.'  An  animal  was  killed 
and  dressed,  of  which  the  people  at  large  partook — there  were 
dances  and  songs  and  speeches  in  abundance.  Then  the  chief 
Medicine  Man  took  the  candidate  and  privately  began  to  instruct 
him  in  all  the  ceremonies  and  knowledge  necessary  to  make  him 
an  accomplished  member  of  the  fraternity.  Sometimes  the  new 
member  selected  was  yet  a  child.  In  that  case,  he  was  taken  by 
the  Medicine  Man  so  soon  as  he  reached  the  proper  age,  and  quali- 
fied by  instruction  and  example  to  become  a  creditable  member  of 
the  fraternity. 

"  Each  Medicine  Man  usually   had   a  bag  or  some  receptacle  in 

*  The  medicine,  man  "occasionally  made  cfFerings  and  sacrifices  which  Avere 
regarded  as"  propitiatory.  *  *  *  He  was  also  a  'prophet,'  in  BO  far  as  he  was,  in 
;\  limited  degree,  an  instructor,  but  did  not  .claim  to  possess  the  power  of  foretelling 
future  events." — "Wau-Btin,  the  '  Early  Day  '  in  the  North-West," — pages  300,361,  and 


4-J  Tl  I  K  1 1 1  -N  T.N  O  S  K  A30X. 

which  was  supposed  to  be  enclosed  some  animal  tCMvhom  in  the 
course  of  their  pow-wow*,  he  addressed  himself,  crying  to  him  in 
the  note  common  to  his  imagined  species,  and  the  people  seem  Jill 
to  have  been  persuaded  that  the  answers,  which  were  announced 
were  really  communications  in  this  form,  from  the  Great  Spirit, 

"•  The  Indians  appear,"  continues  Mrs.  Keuzie,  "  to  have  no  idea 
of  a  retribution  beyond  this  life.  They  have  a  strong  appreciation 
of  the  great  fundamental  virtues  of  natural  religion— the  worship 
of  the  Great  Spirit,  brotherly  loye,  parental  affection,  honcsty,^tem- 
perunce,  and  chastity.  Any  infringement  of  the  laws  of  the  Qreat 
Spirit,  by  a  departure  from,  these  virtues,  they  believe  will  excite 
his  anger,  and  draw  down  punishment.  These  are  their  principles. 
That  their  practice  evinces  more  and  more,"  says  she,  '*  a  departure 
from  them,  under  the  debasing  influences  of  a  proximity  to  the 
whites,  is  a  melancholy  truth,  which  no  one  will  admit  with  so  much 
sorrow  as  those  who  lived  among  them,  and  esteemed  them  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  ago,  before  this  signal  change  had  taken  place." 

There  were  many  dances,  however,  among  the  Mianiies,  as  Avell 
as  many  periods  of  the  year  in  which  they  indulged  in  such  festivi- 
ties, throughout  their  villages.  Evening,  and  often  through  the 
greater  part  of  the  night,  during  the  milder  seasons,  was  the  usual 
time  for  such  enjoynlent.  Their  music  consisted,  usually,  of  a  deer 
skin  entirely  free  of  hair,  which  they  stretched  in  some  way,  similar 
t<»  our  common  drum-head,  and  upon  which  their  "musjcman" 
would  keep  time  and  hum  an  air  adapted  to  the  Indian's  style  of 
dancing.  It  was  very  common  on  such  occasions  to  have  a  large 
pot  of  hominy  cooking  over  a  moderate  fire,  to  which  tb,e  dancers 
would  occasionally  repair  and  partake,  all  from  the  sam,e  spoon  or 
wooden  ladel. 

But  the  red  man  was  never  entirely  fixed  or  permanent  in  his 
location.  Hunting  and  fishing  occupied  a  very  large  share  of  his 
lime.  The  summpr  months  especially,,  were  much  devoted  to  fish- 
ing. The  furry  animals  and  the  deer,  from  which  he  expected  each 
season  to  realize  a  moderate  income,  with  which  to  procure  ammu- 
nition, blankets,  <fec.,  for  another  season,  were  neyer  disturbed  by 
the  Indian  until  the  period  arrived  for  their  furs  and  'hides  to  be 
fully  matured  for  the  market.  Then  the  Indians  and  their  familes 
(excepting  there  were  some  who,  from  age  or  infirmity,  were  unable 
to  go.)  left  their  villages,  and  sought  new  homes  in  the  woods,  or 
near  some  large  prairie,  where  the  deer,  the  ottar,  the  raccoon,  &c., 
were  most  abundant.  And  their  return,  to  renew  their  old  homes, 
was  only  hailed  by  the  springing  of  the  early  grass,  or  the  joyful 
song  of  some  sweet  bird  of  passage  that  had  again,  at  the  first 
tokens  of  Spring,  ventured  a  return  to  the  Northwest.  And  this 
was  life  among  the  Miamies  here,  to  a  late  period  of  their  history. 
This  was  life  in  the  primitive  wilds  of  the  great  Northwest  a  hun- 
dred and  iilty years  or  more  ago.  What  a  civilization  may  be  ours 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  hence  ! 


CJ1APTER  IV, 

VTIie  junction  of  these  rivers  (the  St.  Mary  and  the  St.  Joseph),  may  even 
claim  u  page  in  the  annuls  of  that  momentous  contest  between  French  and  English 
civilisation — between  Romaniam  and  Protestantism — which  was  waged  with  alterna- 
ting success,  and  with  short  intervals  of  repose,  for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  ter- 
minating, soon  after  the  fall  of  Quebec,  in  the  establishment  of  Anglo-Saxon 
supremacy  bv  the  treaty  of  1763." — Extract  from  a  lecture  of  J.  L.  Williams,  Esq., 
deljyered  in  Fort  Wayne,  March  7,  1860. 


Death  of  La  Salle — A  line  of  stockade  forts  contemplated  and  established  by  the 
French — Progress  of  events  following  this  movement  of  the  French — Movements  of 
the  English — The  French  become  aroused — Feuds  of  the  Old  World  rekindled  in 
the  New — The  French  and  the  Indians — Washington  sent  as  a  Messenger— War 
— Braddoc-k's  Defeat — Activity  of  the  Contending  Armies — Wolfe's  Advance  upon 
Quebec — Final  triumph  of  the  English  Army  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham — A  new 
Era  dawned  upqn  the  New  World. 


hundred  and  eighty-two  had  passed.  The  shouts 
of  "  vive  le  roi,"  by  La  Salle  and  his  voyageurs,  near  the 
pn^  mouth  of  the  great  Father  of  AVaters  had  long  since  died  away 
$jz*  on  the  still  air,  and  La  Salle  himself  fallen  a  victim,  on  the 
~J  shores  of  Texas,  to  the  treachery  of  bis  followers.  1699  came. 
Lcmoine  d'Iberville  had  planted  a  little  colony  on  the  newly-pos- 
sessed territory  of  Louisiane.  And  again  years  sped  away.  The 
little  settlement  upon  the  newly  acquired  dominion  of  the  South 
grew  and  prospered  amid  the  spontaneous  growths  of  nature  every- 
where about  it;  and  the  French  Government  had  begun  seriously 
to  contemplate  the  union  of  her  Northern  and  Southern  extremities 
by  the  arrangement  and  establishment  of  a  continuous  line  of  stock- 
ade forts  and  settlements  through  the  interminable  forests  and 
prairies,  along  the  shores  of  beautiful  rivers,  by  the  margin  of 
dreary  lakes,  lowly  vales,  and  towering  cliffs — from  the  river  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  dark  blue  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  mid- 
dle of  the  18th  century  came,  and  the  great  enterprise  was  rapidly 
hastening  toward  a  complete  consummation.  A  fort  on  the  strait 
of  Niagara  stood  in  full  view  of,  and  guarded  the  entrance  to,  the 
vast  interior  extending  towards  the  great  Southwest.  A  second 
sprang  up  at  Detroit,  overlooking  and  controlling  the  route  from 
Lake  Erie  to  the  North.  A  third  soon  stood  defiantly  forth  at  St. 


44  J'UCM.ULSS  Of  FRENCH  SLTTUIMK.NT.S. 

Mary's,  guarding  with  jealous  eye  all  access  to  Lake  Superior.  A 
fourth  was  completed  at  Michilliinackinac,  which  stood  guard  to 
the  mouth  of  Lake  Michigan.  Soon  a  fifth  appeared  at  Green  Bay, 
and  a  sixth  at  St.  Joseph,  guarding-  the  routes  to  the  great  Father 
ofWaters,  via  the  Wisr  onsin  and  Illinois  rivers;  and  two  more, — 
making  eight — one,  Fort  Miamies,  near  the  confluence  of  the  St. 
Joseph  and  St.  Mary's  rivers,  (in  view  of  the  present  site  of  Fort 
Wayne,)  the  other,  Fort  Ouiatenon,  on  the  "VVabash,  below  Lafayette. 
Small  settlements  of  French  soon  sprang  up  at  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia, 
and  at  other  points,  some  in  the  territory  of  the  Illinois  Indians, 
along  the  Illinois  river,  while,  here  and  there  along  the  banks  of 
the  Mississippi,  were  to  be  seen,  amid  the  thick  jungle,  long  pecu- 
liar to  this  broad  and  beautiful  river,  an  occasional  stockade  fort; 
while,  upon  reaching  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Natchez,  on  the 
Mississippi,  they  were  met  by  their  kinsmen  of  Louisiana,  extending 
their  settlements  to  meet  the  voya-geun*  from  the  shores  of  Canada. 

France  was  now  a  power  in  the  great  Northwest.  Her  military 
strength  was  seemingly  complete.  The  great  forest  was  hers. 
She  amalgamated  with  the  wild  tribes  of  the  land  wherever  she 
went,  and  thus  became  a  part  of  the  great  family  of  natives  at  every 
point.  This  alliance  grew  into  a  warm  attachment,  and  the  Indians 
knew  the  king  of  the  French  as  their  Great  Father,  and  long  look- 
ed up  to  him,  through  his  subjects  on  this  side  of  the  great  waters, 
as  a  protector  and  aid  in  time  of  need.  From  the  French  they  early 
obtained  guns,  powder,  and  balls,  and  from  them  soon  learned  their 
use  in  hunting,  whereby  the  French  obtained  vast  quantities  of  Mil- 
liable  furs  at  such  prices  as  they  were  pleased  to  dictate.  The 
missionaries  pursued  their  labors,  and  at  every  post  were  to  be  met 
with  their  crosses  and  symbols;  many  of  them,  in  accordance  with 
their  peculiar  school  and  ideas  of  religious  zeal,  were  ready  to 
Buffer  martyrdom,  if  need  !>e.  even  at  the  hand  of  the  savage. 

Time  wore  on.  The  French  settlements  and  forts  had  succeeded 
but  poorly.  They  had  sadly  neglected  agricultural  pursuits.  Spec- 
ulation had  warped  and  twisted  their  better  natures,  and  their  for- 
mer sense  of  civilization  had  now  become  so  strongly  interwoven 
with  those  of  the  habits  and  customs  of  the  red  man,  that  they  had 
well-nigh  lost  that  higher  feeling  of  mental  mid  physical  growth 
upon  which  the  white  race  had  BO  long  prided  itself  and  sought  to 
attain. 

And  as  they  were  often  wanting  irj  sobriety  and  civic  continuity, 
FO  the  French  Government  at  that  period,  because  of  its  ambition* 
tendency  and  ardent  desire  for  dominion  and  conquest,  with  other 
causes  of  a  no  less  deleterious  character  about  the  French  court, 
was  but  feebly  prepared  to  render  the  necessary  aid  or  give  that 
impetus  to  her  colonial  settlements  in  America  that  would  have 
secured  at  least  a  moderate  expression  of  prolonged  and  energetic 
civil  culture. 

J  «4-S  at  length  came,  and  France  was  still  'secure  in  her  posses- 

•V:  I!i:M-y  of  Cauada,  1.  208. 


IIlsTOKY    OF   FoUT    WAYMi.  43, 

sions  in  the  New  World.  Her  line  of  stockade  forts  were  still  main- 
tained. A  new  scheme  had  arisen  in  the  mind  of  the  somewhat 
acute  Count  Galissomriere *  of  bringing  over  to  the  New  World  ten 
thousand  French  peasants  to  be  nettled  upon  the  regions  bordering 
the  Ohio,  which,  at  that  time,  the  French  government  was  propos- 
ing to  embrace  within  her  already  extensive  domain.  Many  of 
these  peasants  were  also  to  inhabit  the  lake  borders.  While  thus 
passing  their  time  in  the  castle  of  St.  Louis,  at  Quebec,— civilians, 
soldiers',  and  men  of  State, — the  English  lion  had  beeri  quietly 
looking  about  in  search  of  prey,  and  now  began  to  move  cautious- 
ly along  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Mohawk,  and,  soon  issuing 
from  the  lowlands,  he  was  heard  to  roar  along  the  eastern  slopes  of 
the  Alleghany  Mountains.  His  march  was  still  westward,  and 
gradually  onward  he  moved,  until  at  length,  he  saw  beyond,  in  the 
distance,  where  here  and  there  an  open  spot  was  visible,  small  mov- 
ing objects,  and  the  smoke  of  the  Canadian  hut  continued  for  a  time 
to  curl  peacefully  away  amid  the  surrounding  forest  and  over  the 
broad  blue  face  of  the  great  lakes  of  their  dominion.  Forests  fell 
before  the  westward  march  of  the  English  settlements  ;  "  and 
while,  on  one  side  of  the  Allcghanies,  Celeron  de  Bienville  was 
burying  plates  of  lead,  engraved  with  the  arms  of  France,"  says 
Parkman,  "  the  ploughs  and  axes  of  Virginia  woodsmen  were 
enforcing  a  surer  title  on  the  other."  The  right  of  possession  was 
soon  to  be  tested.  The  two  powers  of  the  day  were  destined,  ere 
many  moons,  to  measure  swords  and  struggle  fcr  supremacy  on  the 
new  Continent. 

The  peculiar  intimacy  of  the  French  with  the  Indians  had  long 
given  them  a  strength  of  no  mean  consideration.  The  opposite 
was  true  of  the  English  ;  and  often,  instead  of  drawing  the  Indians 
about  them  in  a  spirit  of  amity  and  friendship,  by  making  them 
many  little  presents  of  trinkets,  <fec.,  as  did  tlie  French  then  and 
long  before,  the  phlegmatic  nature  of  the  Englishman  drove  him 
sullenly  away.  The  Jesuit  missionaries,  too,  still  exerted  a  wide 
influence,  in  their  peculiar  way,  over  the  western  tribes.  The 
English  had  no  missionaries.  They  were  simply  agriculturalists — 
desired  to  till  the  soil  and  pursue  a  moderate,  though  sure  system  of 
commerce.  The  French  were  principally  fur  traders,  and  their 
government  had  long  fy?en  actuated  by,  and  inflated  with,  a  spirit 
of  concpuest  and  dominion.  The  one  was  heretic  to  the  other — had 
long  been  so ;  and  the  bitter  feuds  of  the  Old  World  were  now 
about  to  take  form  and  action  upon  the 'soil  of  the  New.  England 
was  stern  and  resolute.  The  "  Church  of  England  "  was  the  Eng- 
lishman's church,  and  his  God  was  not  the  God  of  his  rival.  The 
u  Church  of  Rome  "  was  the  church  of  the  Frenchman  of  the  day ; 
and  his  God  was  not  the  God  of  the  Englishman.  The  contest  was 
destined  to  be  a  bitter  one,  and  the  vantage  ground  seemed  all  on 
the  side  of  the  French.  Time  wore  heavily  on.  1749  came.  The 
English  had  begun  to  make  some  inroads  upon  the  French  domin- 

•*R^  History  of  Cansd:>.  T,  -T! •». 


4(5  LEADING  EVENTS  IN  T11E  FllENClI  AND  INDIAN   WAfc* 

ions  as  traders;  and  it  Was  in  this  year  that  La  Jonquiore,  thcrt 
governor  of  Canada,  made  the  discovery  that  a  number  of  English 
traders  had  come  to  Sandusky,*  and  u  were  exerting  a  bad  influence 
upon  the  Indians  of  that  quarter."  The  Canadian  Goverrior,  says 
th?  account,  "  caused  four  of  the  intruders  tb  be  seized  near  the1 
Ohio'  and  sent  prisoners  to  Canada."  Events'  were  now  surely  and 
successively  "  casting  their  shadows."  The  English,  at  that  period 
being  much  disaffected  and  broken  in  their  governiental  relations, 
to  awaken  at  New  York.  Philadelphia,  Virginia,  and  other  points,  a 
policy  that  would  attract  the  attention  of,  and  draw  the  Indians 
to  them,  seemed  most  difficult  indeed.  Even  the  powerful  Iroquois 
or  Five  Nations,  then  dwelling,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  Province 
of  New  York,  and  who,  from  an  ill-will  unthoughtedly  engendered 
by  Champlain,  in  May  1609,  in  uniting,  at  Quebec,  with  a  party  of 
Alg'onquin  Indians  against  them,  causing  their  defeat  and  utter 
rout  near  the  rocky  promontory  of  Ticonderoga,  and  who,  therefore, 
during  many  years  subsequent^  were  a  great  source  of  trouble  to 
the  French  settlements  in  Canada,  well-nigh,  at  times,  desolating 
the  homes  and  h'elds  of  her  interior  provinces  —  even  this  formida- 
ble tribe,  the  English  failed  to  win  over  to  their  cause.  And  "  the 
cold  and  haughty  bearing  of  the  English  officials,"  together  with 
often  depriving  them,  by  unfair  means,  of  their  annual  presents 
from  England  ;  the  haoit  of  arranging  negotiations  with  them 
through  a  class  of  rum  dealers,  persons  looked  upon  with  but  little 
regard  by  this  powerful  tribe;  .with  other  causes  df  complaint  aris- 
ing from  neglect,  f  <fec.,  are  said  to  have  quite  disgusted  "  the  proud 
chiefs"  of  the  Iroquois.ij; 

It  is  true,  these  causes  and  disquietudes  did  not  wholly  apply  to  all 
parts  of  the  English  Provinces.  The  Friends,  and  some  other  souls, 
Were  exceptibns,  mainly  in  a  philanthropic  sense  ;  but  these  bodies 
were  usually  small  in  tiumbcrs,  and  often  ineffectual  in  their 
efforts.  No  such  condition  of  affairs  was  anywhere  visible  among 

"His  of  Canada.  I.,  214.        {Massachusetts  Historical  Collection,  1st  series,  VII,  67. 

JAmoug  the  MSS.  paper*  of  the  famous  Sir  Win.  Johnson,  to  the  Board  of  Trade. 
London,  dated  May  24.  and  Nov.  13,  1763*  was  the  following:  "  We  find  the  Indi- 
an?, as  far  back  as  the  very  confused  manuscript  records  in  my  possession,  repeated  1  v 
itpbraiding  the!*1  province  for  their  negligence,  their  avarice,  and  their  want  of  assist- 
ing them  at  a  time  when  it  was  certainly  in  their  power  to  destroy  the  infant  colony  of 
Cunrida,  althoiigh  supported  by  many  nations  ;  and  this  is  likewise  confessed  by  "the 
Writings  of  the  managers  of  these  tinie*." 

'I  apprehend  that  it  will  clearly  appear  to  you,  that  the  colonies  had,  all  along. 
to  cultivate  a  proper  understanding  with  the  Indians,  and  from  a  mistaken1 


, 

)tion  have  givatly  despised  them,  without  considering  that  it  is  in  their  power  to  lay 
wast«  ah  d  destroy  the  frontiers.  This  opinion  arose  from  our  confidence  in  our  scat 
Mvd  numbers,  and  the  parsimony  of  our  people,  who,  from  an  error  in  politics,  would 
not  expend  five  pounds  to  eaye  twenty."  Sir  William  was  a  wise  manager  of  Indi;m 
affairs,  and  from  a  long  and  close  intimacy  with  many  of  the  tribes  of  the  North-East, 
at  an  early  period,  became  remarkable  for  his  knowledge  of  Indian  character  and  the 
strong  influence  he  exerted  over  them.  His  headquarters,  known  as  Johnson's  Hall, 
were  long  at  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  where  great  numbers  of  Indians  were  more  or  less  always 
about  him,  and  whither  various  tribes,  through  their  chiefs  and  sachems,  often  repaired 
to  hold  their  council  fires  and  treaties.  And  the  Indians  ever  knew  him  as  their  great 
tntlier.  Tlironirh  hU  aeeney  tho  Troquois.  in  after  vars.  berame  firm  friends  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  Foitx  WAYXIC;  4f 

the  French  of  the  time.  Their  relations  and  devciopements  were 
widely  different.  So  diligent  and  careful  were  they  in  their  atten- 
tions to  the  chiefs  and  others  of  the  different  tribes,  that  often  on 
the  approach  of  such  to  their  forts,  the  loud  roll  of  the  druni  01' 
1  morning  of  cannon  would  announce  their  coming  ;  and  this  attention 
was  most  pleasing  to  the  red  man,  and  made  him  to  feel  that  he  was 
not  only  a  .power  in  the  land,  but  Welcome.  At  the  tables  of  the 
French  officers  "  they  were  regaled"  and  often  bribed  with  medals 
and  decorations, — scarlet  uniforms,  and  French  flags.  Far  wiser 
than  their  rivals,  the  French  never  ruffled  the  self-complacent  dig- 
nity of  their  guests  ;  never  insulted  their  religious  notions  ;  nor  ridi- 
culed their  ancient  customs.  They  met  the  savage  half  way,  and 
showed  an  abundant  readiness  to  "  mould  their  own  features  after 
his  likeness."*  And  it  is  noted  that "  Count  Frontenac  himself,  plum- 
ed and  painted  like  an  Indian  chief,  danced  the  war-dance,  and 
yelled  the  war-song  at  the  camp-firps  of  his  delighted  allies."  Such 
were  the  peculiarities  of  the  French — such  their  wisdom  and  sense 
of  harmony  in  so  far  as  related  td  tlie  wild  aborigines  of  the  new 
continent  at  that  early  period. 

As  little  by  little,  the  delicious  friiit  ripens;  the  flower^  bud  and 
blossom,  or  the  tiny  acorn  expands  into  the  mighty  dak  of  the 
forest,  so  event  followed  event,  as  tile  leaves  df  Autunln  whirl  upon 
the  passing  breeze,  and  at  length  disrobe  the  thick  fdregt: 

The  movements  and  apprehensions  of  the  French1  steadily  becanio 
more  and  more  apparent  to  the  English:  Soon  a  French  Priest,  df 
the  naine  of  Piquet,  made  bold,  in  the  midst  of  his  o'pposbrs,  to 
open  a  mission  at  the  site  of  Ogdensburg,  on  the  St.  Lawrence,f 
mainly  with  a  view  to  win  the  friendship  df  the  Iroquois,  in  which 
he  was  highly  successful,  having  at  one  time  gained  the  heart  and 
attention  of  a  very  large  body  of  that  famous  confederacy,  which 
gave  the  English  great  uneasiness;  Biit  Sir  William  Johnson  soon 
began  to  exert  a  remarkable  influence  over  the  various  tribes,  and 
at  length  succeeded  in  gaining  the  attention  of  the  Iroquois;  and 
not  only  did  this  tribe  become  friendly,  to  a"  considerable  degree^ 
towards  the  English,  but  the  Delawares,  and  the  Miamies, dwelling 
along  the  Ohio,  come  to  regard  them  with  much  favor  ;  while  the1 
iriass  of  the  other  tribes  lying  to  the  North,  West,  and  South;  stood 
ready  at  the  bidding  of  their  French  father. 

Matters  now  began  to  assume  a  formidable  attitude1:  The  tmmity 
of  the  rival  colonies  grew  intense;  Their  hatred  had  assumed  a 
double  aspect  of  religious  and  national  antipathy.  Formerly  the 
Indians  had  been  the  instruments  of  Frdnch  aggressions  upon  the 
English  settlements  ;  and  "  with  them,"  says  Parkiaan,  "the  very 
name  of  Canada  called  up  horrible  recollections  and  ghastly  images; 
the  midnight  massacre  of  Schenectady,  and  the  desolation  of  many 

"Accounts  of  Adair,  Post's  Journals,  Croghan's  Journal,  and  MSS.  of  Sir  Wai. 
Johnson,  and  others. 

fHistorv  of  Xev  York,  L.,  -M3. 


48  COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  FUI:NCH  AND  INDIAN  WAE. 

a  New  England  Hamlet."  A  French  fort  Had  been  erected  at 
Crown  Point,  upon  English  territory.  The  treaty  of  Utretcht  and 
'confirmation  of  same  at  Aix  la  Chapclle,  had  made  English  ground 
of  Acadia;  but  a  doubt  as  to  the  limits  of  the  province  soon  sprang 
up,  and  appointed  commissioners,  from  both  sides,  failing  to  agree, 
belligerant  attitudes  between  the  soldiery  of  the  two  nations,  soon 
became  manifest  on  Acadian  soil.  Gist,  surveyor,  of  the  "  Ohio 
Company,"  which  had  been  organized  in  17-iS,  with  a. view  to  the 
formation  of  settlements  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  had  made  his  way 
to  the  falls  of  the  Ohio.  The  Indians  were  startled.  The  French 
soon  snuffed  the  discontented  air  of  the  red  man,  and  before  the 
surveyor  and  his  party  had  scarcely  begun  their  operations,  the 
French  confronted  them,  and  the  work  ceased. 

17."):}  came.  The  season  of  verdure  had  approached.  The  birds  of 
the  forest  were  already  warbling  their  sweet  notes  of  welcome  to  the 
spring.  The  French  had  made  their  way  across  Lake  Eric,  and 
Prcsque  'Isle  had  already  become  a  fortification.  From  Presque  'Isle 
they  strode  rapidly  towards  the  Ohio.  The  news  soon  found  its  way 
among  the  middle  provinces,  and  Governor  Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia, 
began  at  once  to  look  calmly  about  him  to  select  an  efficient  envoy 
to  bear  a  message  to  the  invaders,  ordering  their  immediate  evacua- 
tion of  the  soil.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  then  in  his  twenty-first  year, 
was  the  one  selected.  Months  had  gone  by.  Spring  had  passed. 
Another  summer  had  ended — Autumn  had  left  bear  the  trees,  and  the 
cold  bleak  of  winter  had  come  again.  The  winds  moaned  through  the 
forest;  and  the  fourth  of  December,  1753,  saw  Washington  j  ourney- 
ing  along  the  banks  of  the  Alleghany.  Soon  he  reached  the  Indian 
village  of  Venango,  at  the  mouth  of  French  Creek.  The  advanced 
post  of  the  French  was  there.  The  English  trader,  formerly  at  that 
point  had  departed,  and  the  French  flag  was  flying  over  his  cabin. 
The  French  gave  the  young  messenger  a  fair  reception  and  hearing; 
and  bade  him  see  the  commanding  officer  at  Le  Breuf,  still  above 
Venango,  on  French  Creek,  whither  Washington  started  and  soon 
arrived.  Upon  communicating  with  Legardeur  de  St.  Pierre,  the 
commanding  officer,  he  was  told  by  the  latter  that  he  would  send  the 
message  to  the  Governor- General  of  Canada  ;  that  his  orders  were  to 
hold  possession  of  the  country  ;  and  that  he  would  do  it  "  to  the  best 
of  his  ability."  Washington  returned.  The  ultimatum  had  been 
revealed,  and,  at  the  opening  of  another  spring,  a  large  body  of  the 
backwoodsmen  of  Virginia  had  formed  themselves  into  a  company 
under  Trent,  as  Captain.  Soon  crossing  the  Alleghanies,  and  descend- 
ing to  tbe  point  where  now  flourishes  the  city  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  they 
began  the  erection  of  a  fort.  Le  Brcuf  and  Venango  soon  got  scent 
of  it,  and,  sweeping  down  with  a  large  body  of  French  and  Indians, 
the  fort  of  the  backwoodsmen  was  soon  evacuated.  Then  followed 
young  Washington  at  the  head  of  a  second  party.  Reaching  the 
Monongahela,  he  threw  up  a  temporary  fortification,  and  one  dark, 
stormy  night,  M.  Jumonville,  with  a  French  scouting  j>nrty,  Vr'as  SIU^ 


HISTORY  oi?  FOET  WAYNE.  49 

denly  surprised  and  all  taken  prisoners  by  Washington  and  his 
backwoodsmen.  Soon  evacuating  this  point,  he  made  another  halt 
at  the  Great  Meadows,  where,  behind  some  former  entrenchments, 
lie  was  soon  assailed  by  nearly  a  thousand  French  and  Indians, 
whom  they  fought  most  valiantly,  until  the  French  beat  a  truce- 
parley,  and  presented  terms  of  capitulation ;  and  Washington  and 
his  men  being  free  to  move;,  soon  began  to  recross  the  mountains. 
The  Indians  now  began  to  wonder  at  these  movements  upon  their 
soil- — two  foreign  parties  struggling  for  a  territory  that  belonged  to 
neither,  had  aroused  their  attention,  and  the  red  men  soon  began 
to  see  that,  as  one  of  their  sagacious  chiefs  suggested,  a  few  years 
later,  the  French  and  English  were  very  much  "  like  the  two  edges 
of  a  pair  of  shears,"  and  that  they,  (the  Indians)  were  "  the  cloth 
which  was  being  cut  to  pieces  between  them." 

The  war  dog  now  began  to  howl  fiercer  than  ever.  1755  found 
the  courts  of  London  and  Versailes  still  maintaining  diplomatic 
relations,  and  while  yet  persisting  in  a  desire  for  a  peaceful  adjust- 
ment of  affairs,  they  were  both  arranging  for  a  conflict  of  arms  in 
the  New  World.  Braddock,  with  a  considerable  English  fleet,  soon 
sailed  from  tile  harbor  of  Cork,  in  Ireland  ;  and,  a  little  later,  a  French 
fleet  put  to  sea  from  Brest,  under  command  of  Baron  Dieskau. 
While  the  English  fleet  came  safely  over,  and  landed  her  troops  as 
designed,  the  French  were  less  fortunate,  and  lost  two  of  their  ves- 
sels by  drifting,  in  a  fog,  too  near  the  guns  of  a  strong  British 
fort,  near  the  l)anks  of  Newfoundland,  who  took  the  vessels,  after 
a  short  contest,  and  made  prisoners  of  the  crew.  The  British  now 
ordered  a  general  attack  upon  the  French  marine,  and  before  the 
end  of  this  year,  had  captured  throe  hundred  French  vessels  and 
some  eight  thousand  of  her  sailors. 

The  French  were  discomfited,  but  not  beaten.  Braddock  became 
commander-in-chief  of  the  English  forces  in  America.  Negotiations 
were  soon  broken  off  between  the  two  great  powers^  before  which, 
however,  the  English  ministry  had  hit  upon  a  plan  by  which  they 
proposed  to  strike  a  simultaneous  and  general  blow  against  the 
French  on  the  new  continent,  and  thus,  if  possible,  to  sweep  them 
from  the  land  at  once,  as  it  were.  The  plan  of  attack  was  to  move 
upon  Acadia,  Crown  Point,  Niagara,  and  Fort  Du  Quesne,  (Pitts* 
burg) — Braddock,  with  his  troops  from  the  Old  World,  aided  by  two 
regiments  of  provincials,  to  secure  the  latter  point.  But  he  was 
a  newxcomer  in  the  land,  and  knew  but  little  of  the  perils  and  diffi- 
culties to  be  encountered,  He  was  not  "  the  right  man  in  the  right 
place  "  for  such  a  field  of  action  at  such  a  time,  in  so  far,  at  least, 
as  ultimate  success  was  concerned.  Having  explained,  however, 
to  the  several  governors  of  the  Provinces  his  intentions,  he  begun, 
in  astern,  austere,  and  rigid  manner,  the  adjustment  of  his  plai:>: 
which  being  consummated,  he  took  up  his  line  of  march  toward  the 
borders  of  Virginia,  and  soon  encamped  at  Fort;  Cumberland.  Weeks 
nwnv  in  preparation.  The  bfirkv,v,od>i.H'n  kurw  how  1<> 


50  UBADDOOK'S  MARCH  UPON  FOBT  Du 

sling  an  axe,  but  were  little  acquainted  with  the  close  drilling  and 
sterner  discipline  of  the  Braddock  school.  He  was  often  out  of 
humor  with  them— ^abused  his  contractors,  for  obtaining  bad  horses, 
and  said  hard  things  of  the  country  and  its  people  generally.  But 
the  hour  of  march  at  length  came.  June,  1755,  saw  the  army  of 
Braddock  on  the  move,  with  an  immense  baggage,  lor  Fort  Du 
Quesne, — the  axemen  felling  the  trees,  and  opening  the  way  for 
the  advancing  forces.  "  Large  bodies  move  slowly."  The  opening; 
was  rough,  and  all  was  tedious.  Nearly  a  month  had  passed,  and 
on  the  eighth  of  July,  an  advance  body  of  some  twelve  hundred 
men,  with  the  less  cumbersome  baggage  and  artillery,  stood  upon 
the  bank  of  the  Monongahela,  about  h'fteen  miles  from  Fort  Du 
Quesne.  A  rocky  barrier,  and  somewhat  uneven  ground,  prevented 
a  direct  passage  to  the  fort,  and  an  order  from  the  general  to  cross 
the  river  with  a  view  to  finding  a  better  path,  and  then  to  rocrosa 
it  again  a  few  miles  still  lower  down,  was  readily  entered  upon,  and 
the  army  soon  made  the  first  crossing,  and  rapidly  filed  along  the 
shore,  all  aglow  with  joy  at  the  prospect  of  a  speedy  arrival  at 
the  fort. 

Du  Quesne  was  already  in  the  hands  of  the  French.  Bands  of 
Indians  and  French  scouts  had  spied  the  approach  of  Braddock. 
The  fort  was  all  alive  with  preparation.  Retreat  was  the  first  thought 
of  Contrecoeur,  its  commander.  But  Beaujeu,  his  captain,  said 
•fight.  His  suggestion  was  listened  to  and  accepted  ;  he  at  once  pro- 
posed to  lead  a  band  of  Indians  and  French  to  waylay  and  intercept 
the  further  march  of  Braddock.  The  camps  ot  the  fierce  Caughnaw- 
ages,  Ottawas,  Abenakis,  Ojibwas,  and  Hurons,  were  near  and 
soon  reached  by  Beaujeu,  who  assembled  the  warriors,  and  at  once 
threw  the  hatchet  on  the  ground  before  them.*  All  was  hesitancy. 
Again  he  appealed  to  them,  and  still  they  were  silent.  At  length 
he  approached  them  with  a  stern  resolution.  "  I  am  determined  to 
go,"  he  shouted.  "  What,"  continued  Beaujeu,  "will  you  suffer  your 
lather  to  go  alone  ?  I  arn  sure  we  shall  conquer."  He  succeeded,  and, 
ou  the  morning  of  the  ninth  of  July,  word  having  reached  them  that 
the  English  were  near,  the  chiefs  collected  their  braves  ;  all  painted 
their  faces,  greased  themselves,  whooped,  danced,  and  "hung  feath- 
ers in  their  scalp- locks."  All  was  heroism  and  determination  with 
them.  Great  quantities  of  gun-powder  and  bullets  were  given  them, 
und,  with  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  Frencli  soldiers,  to  bring 
up  the  rear,  the  savages,  band  after  band,  glided  wildly  away  to  the 
forest.  A  few  miles  brought  them  to  a  thick  clump  of  woods,  near 
a  path  leading  to  the  river,  which  was  close  by,  and  where  two 
ravines  formed  a  most  remarkable  ambuscade,  sufficient  in  extent  to 
<•  mtain  and  conceal  "  at  least  ten  thousand  men  ;  "and  the  savage*, 
with  Beaujeu  and  his  men,  were  here  soon  concealed,  with  guns 
all  ready  for  action.  The  drums  of  the  advancing  army  were  beat- 
ing. It  was  midsummer.  All  was  bright  and  beautiful.  The  sun 

*WKi«ti.  if  twlwn  TTJ>  ty  tfie  Indians,  moatit  that  firry  v.-mil<!  £>in  i     rtvo 


HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYSE.  51 

slione  forth  in  all  his  splendor,  and  the  wild  flowers  spangled  the 
forest  at  every  side,  freighting  the  undulating  currents  with  delicious 
odor.  On  came  the  army  of  Braddock.  The  fated  spot  Avas  at  hand. 
The  army  filed  along  the  little  road  leading  to  the  river,  and  began 
to  re-cross.  All  over,  they  indifferently  continued  their  march, 
with  no  scouts  in  front  or  at  the  side  to  give  token  of  danger.  Soon 
the  ravine  was  neared.  Upon  every  side  there  seemed  a  barrier  of 
some  kind — thick  trees,  close  underbrush,  high  grass,  and  heavy 
fallen  timber — and  their  progress  was  slow,  while  a  rapid  retreat, 
with  such  an  army,  would  hare  been  utterly  impossible.  Lo !  a  sud- 
den whoop  from  the  savages,  a  volley  of  musketry  from  behind  the 
ambuscade  of  the  enemy,  soon  told  the  sad  story.  No  one  had  seen 
the  peril.  The  English  grenadiers  were  confounded,  and  many  fell. 
The  survivors  returned  the  charge.  The  resolute  Beaujeu  was  kill- 
ed, and  the  Indians  wavered,  but  his  second,  Dumas,  rallied  them  to 
the  charge,  and  in  the  front  the  Canadians  and  French  poured  a 
heavy  voile}'-,  while  the  Indians  did  a  similar  execution  on  the  right 
and  left.  The  whole  body  of  the  army  soon  felt  the  charge ;  dismay 
and  disorder  took  possession  of  the  soldiery.  The  advancing  col- 
umns fell  back  upon  the  main  body.  The  enemy  was  everywhere 
wholly  or  partially  concealed.  Few  were  to  be  seen.  Yell  upon 
yell  resounded  at  every  side.  Every  tree — every  log — served  as  a 
place  of  concealment,  and  every  shot  told  its  own  sad  tale.  The  grena- 
diers had  never  seen  or  heard  tho  like  before.  Huddling  together 
in  crowds,  each  seemed  struggling  to  form  a  shield  and  barrier  of  the 
other.  Their  muskets  were  as  oftea  fired  in  the  air  as  towards  {he 
enemy  ;  and  many  fell  at  the  hands  of  their  own  comrades.  The 
officers  were  generally  brave  and  active.  Braddock,  though  seeming- 
ly fearful  in  the  onset,  had  five  horses  shot  under  him.  The  Virgin- 
ians, like  the  Indians,  at  length  took  to  the  trees.  Braddock  rallied 
them  into  the  ranks  again,  and  the  enemy  mowed  them  down  with 
terrible  effect ;  and  soon  Braddock  himself  fell,  and  was  borne  from 
the  field.  Washington  was  there,  as  if  taking  his  first  great  lesson 
in  warfare.  He  rode  heroically  through  the  ranks.  Two  horses 
were  killed  under  him,  and  four  bullets  pierced  his  clothes,  says  tho 
account;*  but  he  came  off  unhurt.  Gates  and  Gage  were  there. 
The  former  was  shot  through  the  body — the  latter,  badly  wounded. 
Out  of  eighty-six  officers,  but  twenty-three  escaped  injury.  Of  the 
twelve  hundred  who  crossed  the  Monongahela,  seven  hundred  were  cut 
down  and  wounded.  The  Virginians  suffered  much.  Their  bravery 
was  great.  The  grenadiers  quailed.  The  open  fields  of  the  Old 
World  were  not  .there.  The  work  of  death  continued  three  hours. 
There  was  no  relief  but  retreat,  and  the  remaining  body  precipitately 
turned  back  and  crossed  the  Monongahela.  The  enemy  pursued 
only  to  the  river.  The  rout  was  complete,  and  the  field  left  to  the 
enemy  to  plunder  and  scalp, 

•  >'  T  Spju-k's  lifc  of  Wellington,  1,  (17. 


,,i-  M<.\I:M':MS  AGAINST  AOADIA;  NIACAUA.  En. 

Braddock's  defeat,  nncl  the  fording-place  became  memorable. 
Tin'  rout  continued  to  Philadelphia.  Meeting  the  roar  division  of 
Dunbar,  the  panic  communicated  to  the  balance  of  the  division, 
and  cannon,  ha.iriragi'.  wa^-mis;  &c.,  were  destroyed,  and  left  behind. 
The  frontier  >ettlements  \vere  passed  and  lett  to  the  ravages  of 
i  he  savage  men,  who,  soon  after,  waged  a  destructive  war  upon 
them. 

The  expedition  against  Acadla  resulted  in  the  speedy  reduction 
of  that  point  :  but  three  thousand  inhabitants  thereof,  stoutly  refusing 
to  subscribe  to  the  English  oath  of  allegiance,  were  speedily  placed 
iipon  vessels  and  shipped  to  British  dominions. 

The  movement  against  Niagara  failed  entirely  —  the  forces  being 
unable  even  to  reach  the  falls.  The  one  against  Crown  Point,  in 
part,  at  first,  much  like  Braddock,  were  surprised  by  the  enemy,  — 
and  Indians,  —  in  a  thick,  woody  ambuscade,  and  badly  cut 


up;  but  afterwards  rallied  with  superior  force,  and  the  victory  on  the 
beautiful  border*  of  Lake  George,  under  Sir  William  Johnson,  was 
considered  tolerably  complete  and  decisive. 

Five  wearisome  years  thus  passed  away  —  Indians,  English,  and 
French  waging  u  ceaseless  warfare  upon  and  destroying  each  othcr^ 
in  surprising,  cannonading,  and  also  attacks  upon  defenseless  settle- 
ments by  the  savages.  Great  suffering  necessarily  awakened 
strong  efforts  an-!  energy  on  the  part  of  both  the  French  and  the 
English. 

In  1758,  from  Cape  Breton  and  Nova  Scotia,  extending  to  the 
Ohio  river,  and  along  the  bordering  regions  of  Lake  George,  the 
war  between  the  rival  claimants  became  rife  again.  Lord  Aber- 
erombie  was  in  command  of  the  English  forces  of  America,  with 
some  fifty  thousand  men  under  him  ;  and  with  Montcalm,  who  h;id, 
about  two  years  before,  with  a  superior  force  of  French  and  Indians, 
:idiic\ed  many  important  victories  in  the  capture  and  destruction 
ol  Oswego,  the  reduction  and  capture  of  Fort  William  Henry  —  the 
aspect  ot'aifairs  began  to  assume  another  and  different  shape.  The 
English  now  began  to  regain  lost  ground  and  to  capture  other  im- 
portant points.  The  formidable  fortress  of  Louisburg  was  taken  ; 
Fort  DuQuesne,  (Pittsburg—  lost  by  Braddock)—  soon  fell  into  Eng- 
lish hands.  Bradstreet  noon  struck  a  favorable  blow,  and  captured 
Kurt  Frontenae.  Lord  Abercrombic,  with  a  force  of  some  sixty 
thousand  men,  advanced  upon  Ticondoroga,  and  though  the  many 
brave  Highlanders  under  him  were  badly  cut  up  —  though  a  retreat 
became  necessary,  from  the  great  disadvantage  of  the  attack,  —  yet 
the  English  never  lost  heart,  but  pushed  forward  with  relieved  vigor. 
Canada  was  to  be  reduced  and  taken.  A  new  plan  of  assailing  tho 
province,  from  throe  sides,  i'mmd  :-.  lodgement  in  the  British  mind  — 
General  I'rideaii.v  was  to  move  upon  Niagara-  from  the  west  ;  Ticon- 
dero^a  ;uid  Crown  Point  were  to  be  reduced  or  captured  .from  the 
south  by  General  A  mherst  ;  while  the  brave  We,  !!'••,  from  the  east, 
\v:i>  to  move  upoM  'Quebec.  General  Viidenitx.  of  tin-  iirst,  having 


IllSTUKV   OF  FuKT   \\AYM-:.  &') 

been  killed  by  the  bursting  of  a  coliorn,  tlie  command  and  capture 
of  Niagara  fell  upon  Sir  Willam  Johnson.  The  loss  of  Niagara  was 
equal  to  the  loss  of  the  Province,  and  the  French  began  to  exhibit 
strenuous  efforts  to  save  the  fort  and  beat  back  the  enemy.  The 
French  and  Indian  forces  then  holding  Detroit,  Presque'Me,Vcnango 
and  Le  Bosuf,  were  speedily  ordered  to  the  rescue  of  Niagara.  Sir 
William  advanced  upon  the  enemy.  They  soon  fled,  and  for 
five  miles  Sir  William  pursued  the  rptreating  forces.  The  success 
of  Niagara  was  complete.  Amherst's  advancement  upon  Ticon- 
deroga  was  the  signal  for  its  destruction,  and  the  French  blew  it 
up,  passing  down  Lake  Champlain  tp  Crown  Point,  whither  they 
soon  retreated,  and  concentrated  their  forces  upon  Isle  Aux  Noix. 
Preparing  formidable  breast-works  htere,  they  determined  to  brave 
the  worst,  and  put  a  stop,  if  possible,  to  the  further  invasion  of  the 
enemy.  But  winter  came,  and  the  armies  ceased  hostilities  for  a 
season. 

•  The  rigid  winter  months  soon  passed — May  had  glided  into  June, 
and  Wolfe,  with  an  army  of  eight  thousand  men,  was  sailing  up  the  St. 
Lawrence.  Soon  forming  an  encampment  upon  the  Island  of  Orleans, 
Quebec,  with  her  "  churches  and  convents  of  stonp  ;  its  ramparts, 
bastions,  and  batteries  " — high  cliffs,  and  the  noted  castle  of  St. 
Louis,  all  in  full  view,-— he  began  to  survey  the  field  of  operations. 
Still  beyond  the  rocky  promontory  which  formed  the  base-work  of 
the  boasted  city,  presenting  a  continuous  line  of  intrenchments  and 
batteries  for  some  distance  along  the  St.  Lawrence,  his  right  rest- 
ing on  Quebec  and  the  river  St.  Charles,  lay  the  army  of  Mont- 
calm,  fourteen  thousand  strong.  Every  aspect  of  nature  seemed  to 
have  conspired  against  the  operations  of  Wolfe.  A  thick  forest 
shielded  Montcalm  in  the  rear ;  opposite  stood  the  towering  promon- 
tory of  Point  Levi,  and  to  his  left  appeared  the  cascade  and  gulf 
of  Montmorenci.  The  task  before  Wolfe  was  herculean.  "I  have 
this  day  (Dec.  1, 1758,)  signified  to  Mr.  Pitt,"  wrote  Wolfe  to  Wm. 
Bickson,  "that  he  may  dispose  of  my  slight  carcass  as  he  pleases,  and 
that  I  am  ready  for  any  undertaking  within  the  reach  and  compass 
of  my  skill  and  cunning.  I  am  in  a  very  bad  condition,  both  with 
gravel  and  rheumatism :  but  I  had  much  rather  die  than  decline  any 
kind  of  service  that  offers  ;  if  I  followed  my  own  taste,  it  would  lead 
me  into  Germany ;  and  if  my  poor  talent  was  consulted,  they  should 
place  me  to  the  cavalry,  because  nature  has  given  me  good  eyes, 
and  a  warmth  of  temper  to  follow  the  first  impressions.  However, 
it  is  not  our  part  to  choose,  but  to  obey."  Tlie  meridian  of  the 
olst  of  July,  1759,  had  passed.  Woj.fe  had  determined  to  move 
upon  Montcalm' s  front,  and  was  soon  qmbarked  with  a  strong  force. 
Heavy  cannonading  from  his  vessels,  §oon  enabled  him  to  gain  a 
landing  "just  ab.qve  the  mouth  of  the  Montmoronci/'  The  ambi- 
tion of  the  grenadiers  and  Royal  Americans  "  o'er  leaped  itself." 
Eager  for  the  victory,  they  spraqg  upon  the  shore.  Illy  directed 
ami  without  order?,  with  loud  shouts,  they  rm;hc'l  over  the  plain 


5-4  '  \Y('U- 1;    IliiFOiCK    (jt'EIJLC. 

and  began,  in  the  face  of  a  terrible  fire  of  the  enemy,  to  clamber 
up  the  ramparts  of  the  French.  Hundreds  of  their  slain  soon  cov- 
ered the  slopes.  A  moment  of  comparative  stillness  soon  elapsed. 
The  great  volleys  of  smoke  arising  from  the  heavy  cannonading 
had  been  effectual  in  attracting  thick  clouds  over  the  scene  of  ac- 
tion, and  a  pelting  rain  put  a  stop  to  the  bloody  contest.  Night 
s-i  t  i it.  A  retreat  was  ordered.  The  surviving  forces  regained  their 
vessels,  and,  as  they  moved  away,  the  loud  vive  le  roi  from  the 
ramparts,  and  the  wild  whoops  of  the  Indians,  as  they  descended 
the  heights  to  tomahawk  and  scalp  the  wounded,  and  plunder  the 
the  dead,  all  told  hoiv  complete  they  esteemed  the  victory. 

Wolfe  was  sad.  t;  More  than  four  hundred  of  the  flower  of  his 
army  had  fallen  a  useless  sacrifice.  "  The  vital  powers  of  his  rather 
slender  frame  had  been  greatly  overcome,  and  a  burning  and  pro- 
tracted fever  confined  him  for  a  period  of  several  days  to  his  bed ; 
ai)d  here  it  was,  while  suffering  under  the  weight  of  a  painful 
lever,  that  his  soul  seemed  to  rise  above  the  surrounding  obstacles 
of  success,  and  enabled  him  to  conceive  the  plan  of  future  triumph. 
The  scheme  thus  evolved  was  deep  and  daring.  The  army  was  to 
be  divided  into  two  divisions, — one,  by  seeming  attacks,  to  engage 
the  attention  of  Montcalm  before  Quebec — the  other  to  move,  at 
night,  above  the  place,  on  the  north  side,  and  scale  the  rugged 
heights  of  Abraham.  September  came,  and  all  was  readiness. 
All  worked  well.  The  plan  developed  was  pushed  forward,  and  on 
the  night  of  the  12th  of  September,  clear  and  beautiful — the  stars 
looking  down  with  a  glorious  harmony  upon  the  scene — noiselessly, 
the  vessels  of  Wolfe  floated  down  the  stream  to  the  point  of  em- 
barkation. "  Qui  vive  ? "  cried  a  sentinel  of  the  French,  as  he 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  moving  objects. 

"  La  France  !  "  was  the  word  echoed  back  by  one  of  the  captains 
of  the  fleet. 

"A  quel  regiment?"  enquired  the  French  guard.  "  De  la 
Reine  ?  "*  was  the  ready  response  of  the  captain. 

The  sentinel,  thinking  no  ill,  and  as  a  vessel  was  hourly  looked 
for  from  Bougainville,  all  suspicions  were  hidden  in  the  darkness 
ot  the  hour,  and  the  English  fleet  passed  on.  Soon  another  sum- 
mons from  a  sentinel  brought  forth  similar  responses  from  the  cap- 
tain of  the  English  vessel,  and  all  was  well.  The  designated  point, 
at  the  base  of  the  heights,  was  reached, — ever  after  memorable  as 
"Wolfe's  cove."  The  ascent  was  very  great.  Wolfe  felt  doubtful. 
Said  he,  to  one  of  his  officers,  "  you  can  try  it,  but  I  don't  think 
you'll  get  up. " 

Soon  one  Donald  McDonald,  the  same,  doubtless,  who  had  just 
before  so  readily  responded  to  the  French  sentinel,  began  to  scale 
the  heights.  Again  came  a  challenge  from  a  guard  above.  Tho 

'This  \v«!»  the  name  of  a  corps  Tiudcr  tlio  French  commander.  Bouorainvillo,  a  fact 
known  to  tli?  captain  rclVrrcd  to. 


HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE.  55 

reply  was  prompt  and  satisfactory.  He  had  come,  said  he  in 
French,  to  relieve  him,  (the  French  sentinel)  and  the  guard  was 
silenced.  Close  upon  the  ascent  of  McDonald,  came  a  number  of 
Highlanders,  scrambling  up  by  every  available  means — and  still 
they  came,  until  the  height  above  swarmed  with  the  English  sol- 
diery. A  fierce  resistance  ensued  between  the  guards  and  the 
English.  The  guards  were  compelled  to  give  way.  Wolfe's  idea 
and  the  stratagem  of  the  Highlander  had  done  the  work.  Morn- 
ing came,  and  with  it  the  clear  sunlight.  The  Plains  of  Abraham 
presented  to  the  opposite  ramparts  of  Quebec  a  scene  of  terror  and 
dismay.  The  shining  bayonets  of  the  enemy,  "  and  the  dark-red 
lines  of  the  English  forming  in  array  of  battle,"  readily  told  the 
French  what  was  coming.  The  long  siege  had  already  greatly  ex- 
hausted the  French  supplies — their  militia  had  withdrawn  for 
want  of  food.  Their  alarm  drums  were  beaten;  and  all  was  ex- 
citement. "  They  have  gotten  to  the  weak  side  of  us  at  last,  and 
we  must  crush  them  with  our  numbers,"  said  Montcalm;  and  the 
French  soldiers  began  to  move  to  the  front  of  the  English.  Firing 
began,  and  nine  o'clock  saw  the  two  armies  confronting  each  other. 
Montcalm  soon  began  to  advance.  Coming  yet  nearer,  his  troops 
opened  a  heavy  fire  upon  the  English.  All  was  still  in  the  English 
ranks.  No  one  ventured  to  pull  a  trigger,  until  the  army  of  Mont- 
calni  had  advanced  within  some  forty  yards  of  the  regulars.  "  At 
once,"  runs  the  account,  "  from  end  to  end  of  the  British  line,  the 
muskets  rose  to  the  level,  as  if  with  the  sway  of  some  great  ma- 
chine, and  the  whole  blazed  forth  at  once  in  one  crashing  explo- 
sion." The  smoke  became  intense,  and  for  a  time  enveloped  the 
soldiery  in  darkness.  The  execution  of  the  English  had  been  great; 
and  now,  that  the  smoke  had  cleared  away,  they  began  to  redouble 
their  efforts — "hewing  down  the  Frenchmen  with  their  broadswords, 
and  slaying  many  in  the  very  ditch  of  the  fortifications. "  The  ac- 
tion was  short  and  rapid.  The  French  IQ^S  was  estimated  at "  fif- 
teen hundred  men,  killed,  wounded,  and  taken."  The  French  now 
fled  precipitately.  Wolfe  had  fallen,  mortally  wounded,  and  been 
conveyed  to  the  rear,  before  the  flight  of  the  French  began.  "  See 
how  they  run,"  cried  an  English  officer  standing  near  to  Wolfe, 
as  he  lay  upon  the  soft  turf.  "Who  run?"  anxiously  enquired 
Wolfe,  "  opening  his  eyes,  "  says  the  account,  "  like  a  man  aroused 
from  sleep. "  "  The  enemy,  sir, "  replied  the  officer ; "  they  give  way 
everywhere."  "Then,"  returned  the  dying  Wolfe,  "tell  Colonel 
Burton  to  march  Webb's  regiment  down  to  Charles  river,  to  cut  off 
their  retreat  from  the  bridge.  Now,  God  be  praised, "  he  softly 
murmured,  turning  on  his  side,  "I  will  die  in  peace;"  and  his 
heroic  spirit  passed  away.  Montcalm  had  also  received  a  mortal 
wound,  and  was  dying.  "  I  am  happy,"  said  he,  "  that  I  shall  not 
live  to  see  the  surrender  of  Quebec."  Being  interrogated  as  to  in- 
structions, his  reply  was,  "  I  will  give  no  more  orders  ;  I  have  much 
business  that  raiist  be  attended  to,  of  greater  moment  than 


;>u  THE  DAWS  OK  A  NEW  EKA. 

ruined  garrison  and  this  wretched  country;"  and  Montcalui,  too, 
soon  went  out.  The  white  flag  was  run  up  on  the  ramparts  of  Que- 
bec, and  on  the  18th  of  September,  1759,  that  point  was  forever 
wrested  from  the  power  of  the  French.  A  year  later,  September 
:--,  17i»0,  and  the  whole  dominion  was  swept  from  their  grasp,  and 
England  ever  after  swayed  the  province.  A  new  rule  began  at 
once  to  extend  itself  over  the  north-western  territory. 

A  new  era  had  dawned  upon  the  New  World.  The  sun-light  of 
a  new  governmental  superstructure — a  broad  Democratic-Repub- 
lican basis, — wherein  the  great  principles  of  "life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  HAPPINESS,  "  were  to  form  the  pillars  of  a  beautiful 
•icp, — had  already  risen  above  the  hill-tops  of  the  Future,  soon 
to  pon'-trate  the  thick  forests  and  glimmer  along  the  valleys  a 
hill-sides  of  the  far  west. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


'  OVr  a  pulse  fi'oin  chaos  beating1, 
With  its  mystic  flow  of  pride, 
We  are  drifting — ever  drilling, 

And  are  floating  down  the  tide." — WM.  II.  BUSHNELL. 


Cumbers  and  condition  of  the  tribes  of  the  northwest  at  the  close  of  the  French  and 
Indian  war — The  western  route — The  Shawanoes  and  Miatnies — Indian  attach- 
ment to  the  French — Their  hatred  of  the  English — The  Delaware  Prophet, — 
British  occupancy  of  forts  Miami  and  Ouiatenon — Treaty  of  17G3 — The  Indian 
domain — The  conspiracy  of  Pontiac — His  designs  first  discovered  atithis  point — 
Discovery  of  the  "bloody  belt" — Council  •  called — Holmes'  letter — Office  of  the 
chiefs — The  great  council  at  the  river  Ecorces — Great  speech  of  Pontiac — The 
Ojibwa  girl's  warning — Pontiac's  visit .to  the  fort — His  failure — Further  efforts — 
(rladwyn's  letter — Further  efforts  of  Pontiac — Visit  and  retention  of  Campbell  am:! 
McDoiujal  at  the  camp  of  Pontiac — Capture  of  the  forts — The  conspiracy  at  this 
point— ^Betrayal  and  death  of  Holmes — surrender  of  the  fort — One  hundred  and 
four  years  have  passed — "Progress !  Civilization  !  Onward  ! 


^ie  dose  of  the  French  struggle,  so  great  had  been  the 
havoc  among  the  various  tribes  of  the  north-west,  that,  from  the 
estimates  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  it  was  presumed  there  were 
not  more  than  ten  thousand  fighting  men  to  be  found  in  the 
whole  territory  lying  "between  the  Mississippi  on  the  west,  and 
the  ocean  on  the  east ;  between  the  Ohio  on  the  south,  and  Lake  Su- 
perior on  the  north  ;"  which,  according  to  a  further  estimate  by  Sir 
William,  in  1763,  placed  the  Iroquois  at  1950;  the  Delawares  at 
about  600 ;  the  Shawanoes  at  about  300 ;  the  Wyandotts  at  about  450; 
the  Miarnies,  with  their  neighbors,  the  Kickapoos,  at  about 
800;  while  the  Ottawas,  Ojibvvas,  and  a  few  wandering  tribes, 
northward,  were  left  without  any  enumeration  at  all.  At  that 
period,  so  thin  and  scattered  was  the  population,"  say  the  best  ac- 
counts,* "  that,  even  in  those  parts  which  were  thought  well  popula- 
ted, one  might  sometimes  journey  for  days  together  through  the 
twilight  forest,  and  meet  no  human  form.  Broad  tracts  were  left 
in  solitude.  All  Kentucky  was  a  vacant  waste,  a  mere  skirmish- 
ing ground  for  hostile  war-parties  of  the  north  and  south.  A  great 
part  of  Upper  Canada,  of  Michigan,  and  of  Illinois,  besides  other 
portions  of  the  west,  were  tenanted  by  wild  beasts  a^one. " 

'   *See  Parkman's  History  of  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  p  133. 


58  CONDITION  OF  AFFAIRS  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  WAB. 

The  most  favored  route  westward  from  the  central  colonial  dis- 
tricts, at  that  period,  "was  from  Philadelphia  across  the  Allegha- 
nies,  to  the  valley  of  the  Ohio, "  by  way  of  Fort  du  Quesno,  (after 
the  Avar,  being  rebuilt  by  the  English,  called  "Fort  Pitt,:')  where 
Pittsburg  now  stands.  It  was  this  route  that  most  of  the  traders 
westward  took,  whither,  from  that  point,  they  penetrated  the  inte- 
rior with  their  goods,  upon  pack-horses,  to  traffic  with  the  Indians. 
An  Englishman,  for  sometime  subsequent  tb  the  war,  became  a 
ready  subject  for  the  scalping-knife,  and,  consequently,  was  com- 
pelled to  move  with  great  precaution. 

At  this  period,  says  Parkman,  in  his  interesting  researches,  "  the 
Shawanoes  had  fixed  their  abode  upon  the  Scioto  and  its  branches. 
Farther  towards  the  west,  on  the  waters  of  the  Wabash  and  the 
Maumec,  dwelt  the  Miamies,  who,  less  exposed,  from  their  posi- 
tion, to  the  poison  of  the  whiskey  keg,  and  the  example  of  de- 
bauched traders,  retained  their  ancient  character  and  custom  in 
greater  purity  than  their  eastern  neighbors, "  "  Fa-om  Vincennes," 
nays  the  same  writer,  "one  might  paddle  his  canoe  northward  up 
the  Wabash,  until  he  reached  the  little  wooden  fort  of  Ouiatcnon. 
Thence  a  path  through  the  woods  led  to  the  banks  of  the  Maumee. 
Two  or  three  Canadians,  or  half  breeds,  of  whom  there  were  num- 
bers about  the  fort,  would  carry  the  canoe  on  their  shoulders,  or, 
for  a  bottle  of  whisky,  a  few  Miami  Indians  might  be  bribed  to 
undertake  the  task.  On  the  Maumee,  at  the  end  of  the  path,  stood 
Fort  Miami,  near  the  spot  where  Fort  Wayne  was  afterwards  built. 
.From  this  point,"  continues  he,  "  one  might  descend  the  Maumee 
to  Lake  Erie,  and  visit  the  neighboring  Fort  of  Sandusky ;  or,  if  he 
<-hose,  steer  through  the  strait  of  Detroit,  and  explore  the  watery 
wastes  of  the  northern  lakes,  finding  occasional  harborage  at  the 
little  military  posts  which  commanded  their  important  points. 
Most  of  these  western  posts  were  transferred  to  the  English  during 
the  autumn  of  1760 ;  but  the  settlements  of  the  Illinois  (Kaskaskia, 
Cahokia,  <Sce.,)  remained, "  says  Parkman,  "several  years  longer 
under  French  control. " 

The  Indians  of  the  northwest  had  lost  their  French  Father,  and 
with  Ijim,  for  a  time,  their  trinkets,  and  much  besides,  in  the  form 
of  powder,  balls,  <fcc.,  that  they  had  long  annually  been  accustomed 
to  receive  from  that  quarter.  They  could  hardly  realize,  not- 
withstanding the  many  whisperings  to  that  effect,  that  their  French 
Father  was  forever  divested  of  his  power  in  America,  and  that  his 
rule  this  side  of  the  great  waters  had  ceased.  They  believed  the 
oft  repeated  sfories  of  the  many  halitans,  coureurs  des  boift,  &c.,  of 
the  various  villages,  and  wandering  from  point  to  point  among  the 
tribes  of  the  northwest,  which  were  also  greatly  strengthened  by 
Minilar  assurances  from  those  of  the  French  still" holding  possession 
of  the  territory  along  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers,  and  at 
other  points,  that  their  French  Father  "had  of  late  years  fallen 
ep,  and  that  his  numerous  vessels  and  soldiers  would  soon  be 


OF  FORT  WAYNE.  59 

moving  up  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence,  to  drive  the  English 
from  their  dominions,  leaving  them  again  in  quiet  possession  of 
their  former  hunting  grounds.  Every  means  was  now  resorted  to 
by  the  French  thus  scattered  about  the  wilderness  to  arouse  the 
savages,  and  their  efforts  were  not  in  vain.  The  rancor  of  the  In- 
dians was  greatly  increased  from  time  to  time,  until  at  length,  after 
a  laspe  of  two  years,  a  great  scheme  was  developed  and  put  on 
foot  for  the  overthrow  and  destruction  of  the  English  and  the 
various  posts  so  recently  occupied  by  them.  As  had  been  frequent 
at  other  periods  among  the  aborignies  in  the  wilds  of  the  New 
World,  a  great  Prophet  suddenly  began  to  exert  a  powerful  influ- 
ence among  the  tribes  of  the  northwest.  He  held  his  mission  un- 
der the  Great  Spirit,  and  earnestly  enjoined  upon  the  tribes  to  re- 
turn again  to  their  primitive  habits — to  throw  away  the  weapons, 
apparel,  &c.,  obtained  from  the  pale  faces.  Here,  said  he,  is  the 
starting  point  of  success.  The  force  of  the  new  prophet's  teachings 
were  truly  great,  and  the  tribes  came  from  long  distances  to  hear 
him.  For  the  most  part  his  suggestions  were  much  regarded  by 
the  tribes ;  but  the  weapons  of  the  white  man  could  not  be  dis- 
pensed with.  These  they  retained.  The  prophet  was  a  Delaware, 
and  the  great  leader  of  the  movement,  was  an  Ottawa  chieftain, 
whose  Indian  name  was  PONTIAC.  Detroit  was  surrendered  to  the 
English  on  the  29th  of  November,  17GO;  and  while  many  prisoners 
were  removed  down  the  lake,  "  the  Canadian  inhabitants  were  al- 
lowed to  retain  their  farms  and  houses,  on  condition  of  swearing 
allegiance  to  the  British  crown."  An  officer  being  speedily  dis- 
patched to  the  southwest,  Fort  Miami,  at  the  confluence  of  the 
rivers  St.  Mary  and  St.  Joseph,  and  Ouiatenon,  below  the  present 
site  of  Lafayette,  so  long  standing  guard  between  the  Ohio  river 
and  Lake  Erie,  were  soon  possessed  by  the  English,  and  a  new  rule 
begun. 

For  over  two  years,  forts  Miami  and  Ouiatenon  remained  in  com- 
parative security.  No  hostile  movement  on  the  part  of  the  French 
or  savages  had  thus  far  conspired  to  greatly  ruffle  the  complacency 
of  their  guardianship. 

The  tenth  of  February,  1763,  at  length  arriving,  a  treaty  of  Peace 
was  convened  at  Paris,  France,  between  the  two  great  Powers  of 
France  and  England — the  former  surrendering  to  the  latter  all 
claims  to  the  vast  region  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi,  making  the 
great  Father  of  Waters  the  boundary  line  of  the  British  possessions 
in  America. 

A  few  months  later,  on  the  7th  of  October,  the  English  govern- 
ment, "  proportioning  out  her  new  acquisitions  into  separate  gov- 
ernments," set  apart  "the  valley  of  the  Ohio  and  adjacent  regions 
as  an  Indian  domain, "  and,  by  proclamation,  strictly  forbade  "  the 
intrusion  of  settlers "'  thereon.  Each  came  at  an  unpropitious  pe- 
riod. The  seeds  .of  future  trouble  had  long  since  been  sown,  and 
HM-  little  forts  in  the  wilderness,  here  (Fort  Miami)  and  at 


FKIENDLV  AMMOM-MOV  —  Tin-:  .l>i.ooi>Y  J>J:J.T. 


Oniatenon,  wore  destined  ere  long  to  feel  the  shock  oi'"  coining 
events."  The  great  plot  of  Pontiac  and  the  efforts  of  the  Delaware 
prophet  for  the  destruction  of  the  English  and  the  recapture  of  the 
posts  so  recently  lost  to  the  French,  were  rapidly  though  silently 
maturing.  Intimations  and  surmises  were  all  that  could  be  gained, 
so  still  and  cautious  were  the  movements  of  the  savages;  and  the 
lirst  really  positive  assurance  (as  it  afterwards  proved)  of  the  efforts 
and  designs  of  the  Ottawa  chieftain  and  rjis  followers,  was  dis- 
closed at  Fort  Miami,  opposite  the  present  site  of  Fort  Wayne. 

With  the  utmost  vigilance,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  greatest 
possible  activity  on  the  other,  Fontiac  was  now  pushing  forward 
his  scheme  of  destruction  against  the  English.  War  belts  were 
dispatched  to  various  tribes  at  a  distance,  inviting  them  to  join  in 
the  overthrow  of  the  invaders  and  capture  of  the  forts  ;  and  soon 
the  entire  Algonquin  race,  combined  with  the  Senecas  (of  the  Six 
X-itions)  the  Wyandotis,  and  many  tribes  from  the  valley  of  the 
Lower  Mississippi,  were  allied  to  the  great  scheme  of  destruction. 
An  English  oilicer,  by  the  name  of  Holmes,  was  in  command,  with 
a  small  body  of  men,  at  this  point,  Fort  Miami  ;  and  it  wras  through 
Holmes  that  the  first  most  positive  intimations  were  received  of 
the  premeditated  plot  of  the  Indians. 

One  day,  early  in  the  month  of  March,  1703,  Holmes  was  startled 
by  a  friendly  admonition.  A  neighboring  Indian,  who,  through 
borne  acts  oi'  kindness,  perhaps,  on  the  part  of  Holmes,  had  formed 
:i  slmim  friendship  for  the  ensign.  The  Indian  told  him  that  the 
\s\irriors  of  one  of  the  villages  near  by  had  recently  received  a 
Idoody  belt*  with  a  "  speech,"  pressing  them  to  kill  him  (Holmes) 
and  demolish  the  fort  here,  and  which,  whispered  the  friendly  In- 
dian, tho  warriors  were  then  making  preparations  to  do.  The  peril 
waa  iminent,  and  Holmes  began  at  once  to  look  about  him.  Soon 
summoning  the  neighboring  Indians  to  a  council,  ho  made  bold  to 
charge  them  with  the  design,  which  they  readily  acknowledged, 
with  seeming  contriteness  and  regret,  charging  the  whole  affair 
upon  a  tribe  at  another  locality  in  the  region.  Holmes  obtained 
the  belt,  and,  from  a  speech  of  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Miaiuie-s, 
at  least  partially  induced  to  entertain  the  belief  that  all  would 
now  be  tranquil. 

A  few  days  later,  and  the  following  letter,  from  Ensign  Holmes, 
at  t  his  point,  was  on  its  way  to  Major  Gladwyn,  commanding  at 
Detroit  : 

".  FORT  MIAMIS,  MARCH  30ra,  17G3. 

Since  my  Last;  Letter  to  You,  wherein  I  Acquainted  You  of 
the  Bloody  Belt  being  in  this  village,!  I  have  made  all  the  search 

It,  was  a  custom  with  many  tribes  in  those  days  to  send  belt*  of  wampum  and 
"'"ntirnes  tobacco  when  aid  was  desired,  or  peace  was  tu  !>.•  made.  The  white  belt 
denoted  peace  ;  {lie  black  or  red  belt  were  emblairmtic  of  war. 

Tli«  r,\,\  Twiffhtwee  or  Miami  village,  on  tho  west  side  of  the  St.  Joseph  ,  and  scat 
t-rcd  in  th«  neighborhood  <>i\\\>-  ••  Old  Apple  Tree,"  nearly  opposite  tin-  site  of  old 
firt  Wayne. 


HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYKE;  ("ii 

1  could  about  it,  and  have  found  it  out  to  bo  True;  Whereon  I 
Assembled  all  the  Chiefs  of  this  Nation,*  &  and  after  a  long-  and 
troublesome  Spell  with  them,  I  Obtained  the  Belt;  with  a  Speech, 
as  you  will  Receive  Enclosed ;  This  Affair  is  very  timely  Stopt, 
and  I  hope  the  News  of  a  Peace  will  put  a  Stop  to  any  further 
Troubles  with  these  Indians,  who  are  the  Principle  Ones  of  Setting 
Mischief  on  Foqt.  I  send  You  the  Belt  with  this  Packet,  which  I 
hope  You  will  Forward  to  the  General." 

The  peculiar  organization  of  the  Indian — his  habits  ;  the  wild 
roaving  life  of  many  of  the  tribes — their  want  of  military  order; 
the  lack  of  proper  central  governmental  relations  to  unite  and  hold 
the  tribes  together  ;  their  inability  and  want  of  judgment  in  furnish- 
ing supplies  for  a  large  body  of  men  in  time  of  war;  their  custom 
of  rapid  blows  to  secure  speedy  victe'ry ;  their  native  idea  of  indi- 
vidual and  collective  freedom  ;f  small  producers  and  large  con- 
sumers— subsisting  mainly  upon  tlie  wild  animals  of  the  forest,  and 
the  fish  of  the  streams — "  loose  and  disjointed  as  a  whole;"  scat- 
tered, for  the  most  part,  in  small  bodies  over  large  regions  of  terri- 
tory—-all  combined,  at  the  period  in  question,  to  render  it  impossi- 
ble for  the  tribes  of  America  long  successfully  to  conduct  a  seige 
or  sustain  themselves, — however  cunning,  intelligent,  resolute,  and 
brave  their  chief  or  chiefs, — in  a  contest  with  the  active  civiliza- 
tion and  formidable  means  of  warfare  of  the  English.  It  is  true, 
that  soon  after  the  French  war,  the  strength  of  the  British  became 
greatly  diminished — the  army  which  had  been  brought  to  bear 
upon  Canada  with  such  salutary  effect,  having  soon  alter  been  dis- 
solved, and  the  main  body  of  the  regulars  recrossed  the  ocean  to 
join  their  friends  again  in  the  Old  \Yorld.  Yet,  with  small  garri- 
sons, they  were,  to  a  considerable  extent,  still  formidable,  as  com- 
pared with  the  advantages  possessed  by  the  savages,  unaided  by 
the  French. 

Signs  of  coming  trouble  with  the  Indians  at  length  became  more 
apparent,  They  had  now  begun  to  hang  about  the  forts,  u  with 
calm,  impenetrable  faces, "  asking  u  for  tobacco,  gunpowder,  and 
whisky.  Now  and  then  some  slight  intimation  of  danger  would 
startle  the  garrison  from  security,  and  an  English  trader,  coming- 
in  from  the  Indian  villages,  would  report  that,  from  their  manners 
and  behavior,  he  suspected  them  of  mischievous  designs."  Occa- 

yThe  Mianiies. 

fit  w.-w  the  office  of  the  chiefs,  says  I'jirkman,  "  to  declare  war  ami  make  peace; 
l>  u  when  \var  \vas  declared,  they  hud  no  power  to  carry  the  declaration  into  effect. 
The  warriors  fought  if  they  chose  to  do  -o  ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  they  preferred  to 
muftin  quiet,  no  man  eoald  force  them  to  lii'c  i:he  hatchet.  The  v.'a'r-cliief.  whose 
part  it  was  to  lead  them  la  battle,  was  u  nv?iv  partisan,  whom  his  l>rnvery  and  ex 
ploiu  had  led  to  distinction.  If  he  thought  proper,  he  *an»:  his  war-sons;,  and  danced 
lii-,  \\-u-dance,  and  ;»>  nriny  of  the  yonn^  i.im  a.i  were  disposed  to  follow  him  path- 
<-tvd  around  and  fii  listed  tiieiiHely.s  under  him.  Over  these  volunteers  he  had  no 
1  jgal authority,  and  they  could,  dejwrt  him  at  any  moment  with  no  oMier  penalty 
than  disgi'ACJ.  •  •  *  Man,- an  Indian  army,  before  r-achinir  tli  '  oni'my's  country, 
lju-  li,"ii  kiiir.va  1o  d\vind!«-  ir.vay  uritil  iv  wa.-  !vdno«'d  in  a  mere  sealpinjr  party." 


fcj  TllE  CiBLA-I    I'u  I  -Ml  I.  AT   -11  IK   lilVEl! 

sionally  some  "  half-breed  would  be  heard  boasting  in  his  cupa 
that  before  the  next  summer  he  would  have  English  hair  to  fringe 
his  hunting-frock.  "* 

By  the  L'ith  of  April,  1763,  Pontiac  having  largely  matured  his 
plan& — groat  numbers  of  the  villages  and  camps  of  the  western 
tribes,  including  all  grades  and  ages,  women  and  children,  of  the 
tribes,  having  celebrated  the  savage  rites  ot  war;  magicians  "  con- 
sulted their  oracles,  and  prepared  charms  to  insure  success ; " 
many  warriors,  as  was  long  the  Indian  custom,  before  great  events 
in  war,  withdrawing  to  the  deep  recesses  of  the  forest,  or  hiding  in 
caves  to  fast  and  pray,  that  the  Great  Spirit  might  give  them  vic- 
tory,— of  the  tribes  already  mentioned  a  grand  council  was  con- 
vened at  the  river  Ecorces,  where  Pontiac  delivered  to  the  vast 
throng  a  speech  rife  with  both  eloquence  arid  art. 

On"  the  morning  of  the  great  council,  "several  old  men,  heralds 
cf  the  camp,  passed  to  and  fro  among  the  lodges,  calling  the  war- 
riors, in  a  loud  voice,  to  attend  the  meeting.  In  accordance  with 
the  summons,  they  came  issuing  from  their  cabins — the  tall,  naked 
figures  of  the  wild  Ojibwas,  with  quivers  slung  at  their  backs,  and 
light  war-clubs  resting  in  the  hollow  of  theit  arms;  Ottawas, 
wrapped  close  in  their  gaudy  blankets ;  Wyandotts,  fluttering  in 
painted  shirts,  their  heads  adorned  with  feathers,  and  their  leggins 
gnrnished  with  bells.  All  were  soon  seated  in  a  wide  circle  upon 
the  grass,  row  within  row, — a  grave  and  silent  assembly.  Each  sav- 
age countenance  seemed  carved  in  wood,  and  none  could  have 
detected  the  deep  and  firey  passions  hidden  beneath  that  unmova- 
ble  exterior.  Pipes,  with  ornamented  stems,  were  lighted  and 
passed  from  hand  to  hand,  "f 

Soon  placing  himself  in  the  centre  of  the  wild,  though  silent  mul- 
titude, with  long  black  hair  flowing  about  his  shoulders ;  stern,  reso- 
lute, with  an  imperious,  preemptory  bearing,  "  like  that  of  a  man 
accustomed  to  sweep  away  all  opposition  by  force  of  his  impetu- 
ous will,"  plumed  and  painted,  with  a  girt  about  his  loins,  Pontiac 
bogan  at  once  to  arouse  his  auditors  by  a  recital  of  the  injustice  of 
the  English,  and  by  drawing  a  contrast  between  the  conduct  of 
the  French  and  the  British  towards  the  tribes  assembled;  presen- 
ting to  them  the  terrible  consequences  of  English  supremacy — 
persisting  that  it  was  the  aim  of  the  British  to  destroy  and  drivo 
them  from  the  land  of  their  fathers.  They  have  driven  away  the 
French,  ho  recounted,  and  now  they  seek  an  opportunity  to  remove 
us  also..  He  told  them  that  their" French  Father  had  long  been 
asleep,  but  that  then  he  was  awake  again,  and  would  soon  return 
in  his  many  canops  to  regain  his  old  possessions  in  Canada. 

Every  sentence  was  rounded  with  a  fierce  ejaculation;  and  as 
the  impetuous  orator  proceeded,  his  auditory  grew  restless  to 
spring  at  once  into  the  bloody  arena  of  battle  and  bury  the  scalping 
knife  and  tomahawk  in  the  body  of  the  enemy.  Turning  to  the 

'Hi<r.  r.-»n«p.  Pnnti.-io.  p  HIT.  fParkinan. 


HISTORY  OF  FOET  WAYNE.  03 

opposite  side  of  savage  nature,  appealing  to  their  sense  of 
the  nrysterious,  in  a  somewhat  mellowed  tone,  though  still  as 
earnest  in  demeanor,  he  said: 

"  A  Delaware  Indian  conceived  an  eager  desire  to  learn  wisdom 
from  the  Master  of  Life ;  but,  being  ignorant  where  to  find  him,  he 
had  recourse  to  fasting,  dreaming,  and  magical  incantations.  By 
these  means  it  was  revealed  to  him,  that,  by  moving  forward  in  a 
straight,  nndeviating  course,  he  would  reach  the  abode  of  the  Great 
Spirit.  He  told  his  purpose  to  no  one,  and  having  provided  the 
equipments  of  a  hunter, — gun,  powder-horn,  ammunition,  and  a 
kettle  for  preparing  his  food, — he  set  forth  on  his  errand.  For  some 
time  he  journied  on  in  high  hope  and  confidence.  On  the  eve- 
ning of  the  eighth  day,  he  stopped  by  the  side  of  a  brook,  at  the 
edge  of  a  small  prairie,  where  he  began  to  make  ready  his  evening- 
meal,  when,  looking  up,  he  saw  three  large  openings  in  the  woods, 
on  the  opposite  side  ot  the  meadow,  and  three  well-beaten  paths 
which  entered  them.  He  was  much  surprised  ;  but  his  wonder  in- 
creased, when,  after  it  had  grown  dark,  the  three  paths  were  more 
clearly  visible  than  ever.  Remembering  the  important  object  of  his 
journey,  he  could  neither  rest  nor  sleep;  and  leaving  his  fire,  he 
crossed  the  meadow,  and  entered  the  largest  of  the  three  openings, 
lie  had  advanced  but  a  short  distance  into  the  forest,  when  a 
bright  flame  sprang  out  of  the  ground  before  him,  and  arrested  his 
steps*  In  great  amazement,  he  turned  back,  and  entered  the 
second  path,  where  the  same  wonderful  phenomenon  again  en- 
countered him ;  and  now,  in  terror  and  bewilderment,  yet  still 
resolved  to  persevere,  he  pursued  the  last  of  the  three  paths.  On 
this  he  journied  a  whole  day  without  interruption,  when,  at  length, 
emerging  from  the  forest,  he  saw  before  him  a  vast  mountain,  of 
dazzling  whiteness.  So  precipitous  was  the  ascent,  that  the  Indian 
thought  it  hopeless  to  go  farther,  and  looked  around  him  in  despair; 
at  that  moment,  he  saw,  seated  at  some  distance  above,  the  figure 
of  a  beautiful  woman  arrayed  in  white,  who  arose  as  he  looked 
upon  her,  and  thus  accosted  him  :  '  How  can  you  hope,  encumber- 
ed as  you  are,  to  succeed  in  your  design?  Go  down  to  the  foot  of 
the  mountain,  throw  away  your  gun,  your  ammunition,  your  pro- 
visions, and  your  clothing  ;  wash  yourself  in  the  stream  which  flows 
there,  and  then  you  will  be  prepared  to  stand  before  the  Master  of 
Life  !  The  Indian  obeyed,  and  then  began  to  ascend  among  the 
rocks,  while  the  woman,  seeing  him  still  discouraged,  laughed  at 
his  faintness  of  heart,  and  told  him  that,  if  he  wished  for  success,  he 
must  climb  by  the  aid  of  one  hand  and  one  foot  only.  After  great 
toil  and  suffering,  he  at  length  found  himself  at  the  summit.  The 
woman  had  disappeared,  and  he  was  left  alone.  A  rich  and  beau- 
tiful plain  lay  before  him,  and  at  a  little  distance  he  saw  three 
great  villages,  far  superior  to  the  squallid  dwellings  of  the  Dela- 
wares.  As  he  approached  the  largest,  and  stood  hesitating,  wheth- 
er he  should  enter,  a  man  gorgeously  attired,  stopper!  forthj  anrl^ 


SJEGE  OF  DJSTKIOT— \\'AUXIXO  OF  -rite  OjimvA  Gn:i., 

takivg  him  by  the  hand,  welcomed  him  to  the  celestial^  abode.  He 
then  conducted  him  into  the  presence  of  the  Great  Spirit,  where  the 
Indian  stood  confounded  at  the  unspeakable  splendor  which  sur- 
rounded him.  The  Great  Spirit  bade  him  be  seated,  and  thus 
addressed  him : 

"'1  am  the  maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  trees,  lakes,  rivers,, 
am!  all  things  else.  I  am  the  maker  of  mankind;  and  because  I 
love  you,  you  must  do  my  will.  The  land  on  which  you  live,  1 
made  for  you,  and  not  for  others.  'Why  do  you  sillier  the  white 
man  to  dwell  among  you  ?  My  children,  you  have  forgotten  the 
customs  and  traditions  of  your  fathers.  Why  do  you  not  clothe 
yourselves  in  skins  as  they  did,  and  ilse  the  bows  and  arrows,  and 
•  e-pointed  lances,  which  they  used?  You  have  bought  guns, 
knives^  kettles,  and  blankets  oi'  the  white  man,  until  you  can  no 
longer  do  without  them  ;  and  what  is  worse,  you  have  drunk  the 
poison  lire-water,  which  turns  you  into  fools.  Fling  all  these 
:;w.'iv:  live  as  your  wise  lore- fathers  lived  before  you.  And,  as 
ior  these  English, — these  dogs  dressed  in  red,  who  have  come  to 
i-o  1)  you  of  your  hunting-grounds,  and  drive-  away  the  game, — you 
must  lift  the  hatchet  against  them,  wipe  them  from  the  face  of  the 
eartli,  and  then  you  will  win  my  favor  back  again,  and  once  more 
lie  happy  and  prosperous.  The  children  of  your  great  father,  the 
King  of  France,  are  not  like  the  English.  Never  forget  that  they 
are  your  brethren.  They  are  very  dear  to  me,  for  they  love  the 
red  men,  and  understand  the  true  mode  of  worshiping  me!" 

With  some  further  admonition  from  the  Great  Spirit,  of  a  moral 
and  religious  nature,  says  the  account,*  the  Indian  took  leave  of 
the  .Master  of  Life,  and  returned  again  to  terra  firma,  where,  among 
his  people,  he  told  all  he  had  seen  and  heard  in  the  wonderful  land 
of  Hie  Great  Spirit. 

All  was  now  ripe  for  action.  Pontiac's  words  and  the  glowing 
allegory  he  had  presented,  had  spread  a  magnetic  lire  among  the 
great  throng  of  listeners  that  nothing  short  of  a  desperate  encounter 
or  defeat  would  smother.  The  first  great  move  was  destined  to 
rulminate  upon  Detroit. 

A  beautiful  Ojibwa  ghl,  whose  love  for  the  commander,  (!I:id- 
wyi!,  s.s-mato  have  brm  only  equalled  by  her  precaution  and  care, 
\\MS  in  the  secret.  Had  probably  attended  the  council,  and  heard 
the-  plan  of  Pontiac's  mov»-i:i«  -nt  to  surprise  and  capture  the  fort; 
and  true  to  her  aenae  <rf  regard  for  her  kind  friend,  Major  Glad- 
\v  \  n,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  Oth  of  May,  she  found  occasion,  (hav- 
ing mode  9  handsome  pair  of  moccasins  for  the  commander,)  to 
visit  the  fort,  whither  she  quietly  strode,  with  anxious  h";:rt,  in 
hopes  to  reyral  to  her  lover  his  perilous  situation,  and  unfold  to 

th-  I'ontinc  MSS.,  originally  in   the  hand  of    OIK-    MeDoiijrnl.    who.  fays 

1  ai-Kinun,  »t  he  derived  l»is  information   from  tin-    Indians."     An«l   farther 

•';.>:  "thcautborof  the  PontiaoMSS. probably  writes  on  tin-  uutimntv  •>!'  Cun- 

;.'liaii8,  K>m<-  of  whom  \v.-iv    |.n-i!t    at    tli-    .-onn.-!!.'1     See  llisiorv    Gotisniracv    of 

I'^lltl:.-.  V|..    I  HI.   ]<1.  !•>•}.    |S'{. 


HISTORY  OK  FORT  WAYNE.  05 

him  the  movement  about  to  be  made  upon  the  fort  by  Pontiac  and 
liis  warriors — his  plan  of  surprise,  <fcc.  As  she  entered,  Gladwyn 
observed  that  she  wore  a  different  air  than  on  other  occasions. 
Her  countenance  assumed  the  expression  of  one  in  distress.  Fear 
and  depression  both  seemed  to  sway  her,  and  she  could  say  but 
little.  Remaining  but  a  short  time,  she  stepped  forth  again  into 
the  open  air,  to  look  about,  perhaps,  to  see  who  might  chanced  to 
have  seen  her  enter  the  fort.  Sorrow  still  weighed  heavily  upon 
her.  She  could  not  depart  from  the  scene  of  her  friend  without 
acquainting  him  with  the  work  that  was  fast  maturing  for  his  death, 
and  the  destruction  of  all  within  the  garrison.  With  this  feeling, 
she  lingered  about  the  fort  until  quite  late,  which  not  only  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  sentinel,  but  Gladwyn  himself,  who,  noticing 
her  strange  conduct,  called  her  to  him,  and  asked  her  what  was 
giving  her  trouble.  Her  heart  beat  heavily.  She  could  not  speak. 
Still  her  friend  pressed  her  for  a  response,  assuring  her  that  he 
would  not,  under  any  consideration,  betray  her — that,  wiih  him, 
whatever  she  told  would  be  safe — that  no  harm  should  befall  her. 
Her  fear  was  suddenly  overcome,  and  her  admiration  for  her 
friend,  united  with  an  irresistible  determination  to  save  him,  even 
in  the  midst  of  danger,  as  the  beautiful  Pocahontas  had  saved  the 
life  of  Captain  Smith,  she  confidingly  told  him  all. 

Said  she,  very  sadly,  "  to-morrow  Pontiac  with  sixty  of  his  war- 
riors will  come  to  the  fort.  All  will  have  short  guns  hidden  under 
their  blankets — blankets  close  about  their  necks,  so  as  to  hide 
guns.  Pontiac  will  want  to  hold  peace-council,  will  make  a  great 
speech ;  then  offer  you  peace-wampum.  With  hands  on  short  guns, 
warriors  all  to  make  a  quick  jump  and  fire,  killing  all  English  offi- 
Vors.  Then  come  all  Indians  outside,  and  kill  all  but  French — Cleave 
ho  English  alive." 

The  soul  of  Gladwyn  suddenly  loomed  above  the  perilous  hour 
that  awaited  him  on  the  morrow.  His  naturally  courageous  heart 
began  to  beat  with  renewed  activity  and  determination.  Bidding 
the  faithful  squaw*  be  faithful  still  and  fear  not;  to  acquaint  him, 
if  possible,  with  a  ny  further  movements  that  might  transpire,  with 
a  lighter  heart,  and  a  freer  air,  the  Ojibwa  beauty  strode  quietly 
out  and  was  soon  lost  to  the  view  of  her  lover  and  the  perilous 
garrison. 

If  the  Great  Spirit  had  inspired  an  Indian  to  destroy >  he  had  also 
superinduced  one  of  his  red  children  to  save ;  and  thus  moved,  the 
Ojibwa  girl  had  already  won  the  victory.  Acting  at  once  upon 
the  admonition  of  the  Indian  girl,  Gladwyn  soon  acquainted  hia 

*0ne  M.  Peltier,  \rli'o  livdd  at  Detroit  during  most  of  the  period  of  the  siege,  and 
•\vho,  though  but  17  years  old  at  the  time,  remembered  much  that  then  occurred,  in 
1824,  in  a  statement  made  to  Gen.  Cass,  said  that  "  he  remembered  that  soon  after  the 
failure  of  Pontiac's  nttemnt  to  surprise  the  garrison,  he  punished,  by  severe  flogging, 
a  woman  named  Catherine,  accused  of  having  betrayed  the  plot."  He  also  remem- 
bered "  the  several  attacks  on  the.  armed  vessels,  by  the  Indians,  and  the  attempt*  to 
set  thfvn  on  fir?  by  mean*  of  Mnzin;:  vaft«." 


>>^  HI>TOKY  OK  FOKI    WAVNE. 

r.flicers  of  the  rvent  to  be  looked  for  on  the  morrow,  and  all 
preparation  and  readiness.  From  mist  and  rain,  the  sky  cleared 
;iway,  and  the  sun  disappeared  in  a  glow  of  brightness.  Night 
came  gradually  on;  and  while  all  was  s; illness  and  anxiety  within 
tho  garrison,  no  hostile  movement  intruded  from  without.  All 
rag&tthe  English  soldiers,  without,  knowing  why,  (for  the  secret  of 
the  Ojibwa  girl  had  not  been  told  the  privates,  for  prudential 
reasons,)  kept  watch  and  paraded  the  ramparts  with  anxious  and 
sleepless  vigil.  Nothing,  however,  served  to  ruffle  the  air,  save 
the  distant  bum-bum  of  the  Indian  drum,  and  the  fierce  whoop  of 
the  warriors  as  they  mingled  their  hoarse  voices  in  the  wily  dance 
and  pushed  forward  their  arrangements  for  the  strategetic  effort  that 
was  to  begin  with  the  dawning  of  another  day, 

The  night  at  length  passed,  and  with  its  passing  soon  came  the 
evidence  of  Pontiac's  design,  as  told  by  the  Ojibwa  girl.  Soon,  in 
the  distance,  many  canoes  could  be  seen,  from  the  palisades  of  the 
fort,  slowly  moving  across  the  river,  as  was  subsoquemly  learned  $ 
laden  with  Indians  lying  compactly  in  the  bottom  of  each  canoe, 
well  concealed,  that  a  knowledge  of  their  strength  might  be  kept. 
from  the  garrison. 

The  open  ground  without  the  fort  began  gradually  to  fill  up: 
Warriors,  fancifully  decorated,  with  here  and  there  many  women1 
and  children,  gathered  upon  the  ground.  To  allay  suspicion,  with 
marked  activity  and  restless  anxiety,  preparations  were  soon  mak- 
ing in  front  of  the  garrison  for  a  great  game  of  baggattaway.  uAt 
f«'ii  o'clock,"  says  Parkman,  "the  great  war-chief,  with  his  treach- 
erous followers,  reached  the  fort,  and  the  gate-way  was  thronged 
with  their  savage  faces.  All  were  wrapped  to  the  throats  in  col- 
ored blankets.  Some  were  crested  with  hawk,  eagle,  or  raven 
plumes ;  others  had  shaved  their  heads,  leaving  only  the  fluttering 
scalp-lock  on  the  crown ;  while  others,  again,  wore  their  long,  black 
hair,  flowing  loosely  at  their  backs,  or  wildly  hanging  about,  their 
brows  like  a  lion's  mane." 

Tin-  account  runs,  that,  as  Pontiac,  followed  by  his  warriors, 
stepped  within  the  enclosure,  (the  entire  garrison  being  on  duty,5 
with  sabers  and  bayonets  glistening,  ready  for  action  at  every 
point,  by  special  order  of  the  commander,)  4'a  deep  ejaculation 
half  escaped  from  his  broad  chest."  The  very  air  about  him 
seemed  to  whisper :  "  Pontiac,  your  plot  is  known."  But  he 
moved  on,  and  soon  passed  into  the  doorway  of  the  council- 
house,  followed  by  his  fierce  coadjutors.  The  commandant,  Glad- 
wyn,  and  his  officers,  with  swords  at  their  sides,  and  u  brace-  of 
pistols  in  their  belts,  all  seated,  in  readiness  for  the  reception  of 
the  waly  chief  and  his  followers.  The  Indian,  as  a  general  rule, 
always  sat  upon  the  ground  or  upon  a  coarse  i.iai.  .Before  taking 
their  seats,  Pontiac'g  perturbed  spirit  led  him  to  emjuh-e  as  to  the 
-•;;use  of  so  many  of  his  "  father's  young  men  standing  in  the  street 
With  their  guns  ?:3  To  which  the  Commandant  replied,  through  his 


VISIT  TO    THE   FoliT — TilE  CoKSPIBACY.  67 

interpreter,  that  "  he  had  ordered  the  soldiers  under  arms  for  the 
sake  of  exercise  and  discipline. "  Seating  themselves  at  once  upon 
the  matts  arranged  for  them  updn  the  floor,  with  much  discom- 
fiture and  evident  mistrust,  in  each  countenance,  Pontiac  arose  hold- 
ing- in  one  hand  the  peace-belt,  referred  to  by  the  Ojibwa  girl,  and 
at  once  began  to  express  to  Gladwyn  his  strong  admiration  and 
love  for  the  English — said  that  "  he  had  come  to  smoke  the  pipe  of 
peace  and  biighten  the  chain  of  friendship  with  his  English  broth- 
ers." And  it  is  said}  that  though  evidently  conscious  of  his  detec- 
tion, "  he  raised  the  belt  and  was  about  to  give  the  fatal  signal," 
when,  instantly.  "  Glachvyn  waved  his  hand  " — and,  as  if  by  magic 
— so  well  matured  were  the  plans  of  the  commandant, — the  garrison 
drum  beat  a  most  stunning  roll,  filling  the  air  with,  its  reverberations^ 
und  startling  the  warriors,  both  within  and  without  the  fort,  into 
sudden  dismay ;  while  the  guards  in  the  passage  to  the  council- 
house  suddenly  made  their  arms  to  clash  and  rattle  as  they  brought 
them  into  a  position  for  action ;  and  the  officers,  with  Gladwyu, 
looking  stearnly  upon  the  figures  of  the  "tall,  strong  men"  before 
them,  had  simultaneously  clasped  their  swords,  in  anticipation  of, 
raid  with  a  view  to  meet,  if  need  be,  the  premeditated  on-siaught 
of  Pontiac  and  his  warriors.  The  moment- was  one  of  heroic  de- 
termination on  the  part  of  the  little  garrison  of  Detroit,  and  of  the 
utmost  discomfiture  and  chagrin  with  the  savages.  The  plans  of 
the  great  Ottawa  chieftain  were  foiled,  and  he  stood  before  the 
commandant  and  his  officers  like  one  suddenly  overcome  by  a 
terrible  shock. 

Says  Gladwyn,  in  a  letter  dated  May  14th,  1763,  "  they  were  so 
much  surprised  to  see  our  disposition,  that  they  would  scarcely 
sit  down  to  council :  However,  in  about  half  an  hour,  after  they 
saw  their  designs  were  discovered,  they  sat  down,  and  Pontiac 
made  a  speech,  which  I  answered  calmly,  without  intimating  my 
suspicions  of  their  intentions,  and  after  receiving  some  trifling 
presents,  they  went  away  to  their  camp." 

Accompanied  by  three  of  his  chiefs,  he  returned  to  the  fort  the 
next  morning,  with  a  calumet  or  peace-pipe,  neatly  ornamented 
\vith  different  colored  plumage,  which  he  offered  to  the  comman- 
dant, with  the  following  speech  :  "My  fathers,  evil  birds  have  sung 
lies  in  your  ears^  We  that  stand  before  you  are  friends  of  the  Eng- 
lish. We  love  them  as  our  brothers,  and,  to  prove  our  love,  we 
have  come  this  day  to  smoke  the  pipe  of  peace."  Presenting  the 
pipe  to  Major  Campbell,  second  in  command,  as  a  pledge  of  friend- 
ship, the  chiefs  again  took  their  departure. 

A  great  game  of  ball  was  played  that  afternoon,  and  Pontiao 
strode  among  the  villagers  arousing  them  to  action.  Orfthe  next 
day,  surrounded  by  an  imnianse  throng-  upon  the  grounds  near  tho 
fort,  Pontiac  stepped  forth,  and  again  approached  the  entrance  to 
the  fort,  but  coalu  not  rio\v  gain  an  admission — all  was  barred 
him.  Enquiring  as  ro  tho  cause  of  this,  the  commandant 


flg  iil-TOKY     or    FoKT 

replied  that  the  Great  Chief  could  enter,  but  none  others.  rjto 
which  Pontiac  replied  that  "  he  wanted  all  his  warriors  to  enjoy  the 
fragrance  ot  the  friendly  calumet."  But  all  was  of  no  avail.  None 
could  enter  hut  the  chief.  Pontiac  is  here  said  to  have  thrown  off 
the  mask  of  friendship,  and  exhibited,  in  unmistakable  action,  a 
determination  for  vengeance  against  the  English.  His  follower* 
now  repaired  to  the  dwellings  of  two  English  residents  near,  mur- 
dered and  scalped  them.  Pontiac  repaired  to  the  Ottawa  village, 
aroused  his  warriors,  and  danced  the  war-dance.  Two  English  officers 
had  been  waylayed  and  killed  by  the  savages  near  Lake  St.  Glair; 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  10th  of  May  (1763),  all  the  tribes  com- 
bined under  Pontiac,  aided  by  a  lew  French  engagees,  by  shouts,  at 
least,  approached  the  fort,  and  began  an  attack,  which  lasted  some 
six  hours.  Efforts  now  being  made  for  a  reconciliation,  La  ButtCj 
the  interpreter,  accompanied  by  two  old  Canadians,  was  sent  to 
the  earap  of  Pontiac  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  his  action,  and  to 
assure  him  that  any  grievance  he  had  to  complain  of,  would  br> 
speedily  redressed.  Pontiac  listened  attentively,  and  seemed  to 
assent  to  all  proposed,  and  La  Butte  soon  hastened  back  to  the  fort 
to  report  progress;  but  shortly  after,  returning  to  the  camp  of  Pon- 
tiac, learned  that  he  had  been  deceived.  Pontiac,  with  his  chiefs* 
now  wished  to  hold  an  interview  with  their  English  fathers  them- 
selves; that  the  peace  might  be  the  more  complete  and  binding. 
Major  Campbell  was  much  liked  by  many  of  the  savages,  and  with 
him  they  wished  to'  speak.  Upon  hearing  of  this  desire  irom  La 
-Butte  and  the  two  Canadians,  Campbell  unsuspectingly  expressed 
a  wish  to  visit  the  camp  of  the  savages.  Gladwyn  was  fearful. 
He  suspected  the  intentions  of  Pontiac.  But  Campbell  wrent, 
accompanied  by  Lieutenant  McDougal,  a  junior  officer  of  the  garri- 
son, "La  Butte,  and  several  other  Canadians."  One  Mr.  Gouin, 
who  had  just  made  himself  sufficiently  well  acquainted  with 
the  designs  of  the  Indians  in  getting  Campbell  and  McDou- 
gal  into  their  camp,  hastened  to  warn  them  of  their  danger; 
l>m  all  was  of  no  avail.  They  went,  and  were  taken  prisoners. 
After  a  few  hours  parley,  feeling  that  his  fate  was  already  sealed. 
to  test  his  position  more  fully,  it  is  stated  that  Campbell  once  arose 
to  depart  for  the  fort  agairij  after  finding  all  efforts  for  reconcilia- 
tion unavailing,  when  Pontiac  bade  him  be  seated,  saying  u  My 
fathers  will  sleep  to-night  in  the  lodges  of  his  red  children."  Their 
lives  were  at  once  eagerly  sought  by  the  savages,  but  Pontiac 
would  not  then  permit  them  to  be  injured,  though  Campbell  was 
subsequently  destroyed  by  the  Indians,  while  McDougal  is  said  to 
have  made  his  escape^ 

On  the  13th  of  May  the  attack  was  renewed,  with  an  increase,; 
force  and  great  vigor.  The  condition  of  the  fV.rt  sot-in i«d  most  per- 
ilous, and  the  officers  had  a  consultation  as  to  what  was  best  to  do, 
in  view  of  their  garrison  being  but  weak  ?t  best,  and  a  powerful 
enemy  to  contend  with.  (From  000  to  2,000  Indians  was  the  esti- 


ltE   OF  THE  ENGLISH  POSTS,  0# 

mate  against  which  the  fort  at  that  time  had  to  contend.)  But 
there  was  now  no  means  of  escape.  To  fight  and  defend  were  the 
only  alternatives ;  and  for  several  weeks  the  siege  continued ;  during 
which  time,  it  was  told  by  an  officer  at  Detroit,  "  no  man  lay  down 
to  sleep,  except  in  his  clothes-,  and  with  his  weapons  by  his  side." 
Pontiac  strove  in  vain  to  gain  the  Canadians  as  allies.  The  provi- 
sions of  the  garrison  became  reduced ;  and  but  for  the  timely  aid 
they  received  from  the  Canadians,  they  would  have  been  compelled 
to  suffer  defeat.  But  the  tables,  in  this  respect,  were  soon  turned, 
and  the  Indians  began  to  want  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  Not 
being  able  to  demolish  or  capture  the  fort  as  easily  as  they  had 
anticipated, — the  Indian  never  accustomed  to  lay  in  stores  for  such 
occasions — their  food  became  exhausted,  and  they  too  cabled  upon 
and  received  from  the  Canadians  like  aid.  It  was  about  this  peri- 
od that  several  attempts,  from  other  points,  were  made  to  relieve 
the  garrison,  by  additional  troops  and  provisions;  but  without 
success.  The  action  of  the  Indians  at  Cither  points,  embraced  in 
the  great  conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  were  now  also  becoming  impor- 
tant. Nine  Posts,  held  by  the  English,  had  been  included  jn  the 
great  conspiracy  and  sought  to  be  captured,  viz:  Detroit,  Presque' 
Isle,  Michillimackinac,  Miami,  (at  this  point,)  Ouiate.non,  (below 
Lafayette,  Ind.)  Le  Bceuf,  Ycnango,  Fort  Pitt,  (Pittsburg)  and  Fort 
Sandusky.  The  plan  of  capture  seems  to  have  embodied  the  cun- 
ning and  resolution  of  Pontiac  at  every  point ;  and  the  pretensions 
somewhat  similar  to  those  at  first  presented  by  the  great  head  of 
the  conspiracy  at  Detroit,  were  mostly  manifested  at  every  post 
essayed  to  be  taken;  and  one  after  another,  excepting  Detroit 
alone,  rapidly  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  Many  were  the 
bloody  scenes  enacted. 

On  the  10th  of  May,  Sandusky  fell;  on  the  1st  of  June,  Ouiatenon 
was  captured ;  Michillimackinac  on  the  12th,  and  Presque'Isle,  on 
the  15th  of  June,  also  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  wild  conspirators. 

After  Presque'Isle  was  taken,  runs  the  narration  of  Parkman, 
the  neighboring  little  posts  of  Le  Boeuf  and  Venaugo  shared  its 
fate,  while,  farther  southward,  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio,  a  host  of 
Delaware  and  Shawnoe  warriors  were  gathering  around  Fort  Pitt, 
and  blood  and  havoc  reigned  along  the  ^vho^e  frontier. 

Father  Jonois,  a  Jesuit  missionary,  had  reached  Detroit  and 
conveyed  to  the  garrison  a  Better  from  Captain  Etherington,  at 
Michillimackinac,  giving  an  account  of  the  capture  of  that  post. 
Soon  after,  a  letter  from  Lieut.  Jenkins,  at  Ouiatenon,  telling  of  the 
capture  of  that  post,  was  also  received  by  Major  Gladwyn.  "  Close 
upon  these  _,tidings,"  says  the  account,  as  given  by  Parkman, 
"  came  the  news  that  Fort  Miami  (at  this  point,  Fort  Wayne)  was 
taken.  This  Post, "  continues  the  narration,  *  *  *  *  "was 
commanded  by  Ensign  Holmes ;  and  here  I  cannot  but  remark," 
says  the  same  writer,  "  on  the  forlorn  situation  of  these  officers, 
isolated  in  the  wilderness,  hundreds  of  miles,  in  sonic  instances, 


7; i  JiisTORV  OK  FORT  \\AV\XK, 

from  any  cono-onial  associates,  separated  from  every  human  being 
except  tin-  rnde  soldiers  under  their  command,  and  the  white  or 
•  a  who  ranged  the  surrounding  woods." 

The  Miamies  at  this  point,  had  been  deeply  embroiled  in  the 
great  conspiracy,  and  the  region  of"  Ke-ki-oug-a"  resounded  with 
many  a  ravage* yell  of  hatred  towards  the  English. 

Stratagem  ever  formed  a  part  qf  Indian  warfare  and  savage 
character.  By  its  skillful  employment,  the  red  man  as  readily 
looked  for  success  in  war,  as,  with  his  rifle  or  bow  and  arrow,  by 
deliberate  and  steady  aim,  he  sought  to  bring  down  the  wild  game 
of  the  forest. 

Holmes  had  long  suspected  the  designs  of  the  Indians,  and,  for 
that  reason,  had,  for  some  months,  been  somewhat  vigilant  in  his 
observations  of  their  conduct,  more  especially  after  the  discovery 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  bloody  belt,  already  referred  to.  But 
savage  ingenuity  and  deception  were  striving  hard,  and  Holmes, 
seemed  destined  to  fall  a  victim  to  the  perfidy  of  the  conspirators, 
white  and  red,  prowling  about  the  village  and  neighborhood. 

The  27th  of  May  had  come.  All  nature  was  radiant  again  with 
the  beauties  of  spring.  The  great,  expanding  foliage  ot  the  forest 
waved  gracefully  over  and  mainly  shut  out  from  the  broad  blaze 
of  a  vivifying  sunlight,  the  beautiful  blosoms  and  sweet-scented 
wild  flowers  that  grew  profusely  beneath  the  tall  majestic  oaks, 
maple,  and  sycamores,  and  countless  other  and  smaller  trees,  that 
lined  the  margins  of  our  beautiful  rivers,  and  mainly  covered  the 
vast  regions  of  soil,  where  now,  under  a  new  reign  of  civilization 
and  human  progress,  the  same  great  sun  daily  reveals  to  the  civil- 
ized eye,  innumerable  fields  and  meadows;  beautiful  towns  and 
cities ;  fine  orchards  ;  and,  each  season,  vast  numbers  of  blooming 
and  fruitful  gardens. 

An  Indian  girl,*  with  whom  Holmes  had  for  some  time  been 
intimate,  and  in  whom  he  placed  much  confidence,  by  compulsion 
on  the  part  of  the  conspirators,  came  into  the  fort  and  told  Holmes 
that  there  was  a  sick  squaw  lying  in  a  wigwam  not  far  from  the 
fort,  and  expressed  a  desire  that  he  should  go  and  see  her.  The 
fatal  hour  had  come.  Unsuspectingly,  and  with  a  view  to  serve 
and  perhaps  relieve  the  supposed  sick  squaw,  (knowing  perhaps 
something  of  medicine  ;  for  it  would  seem,  had  there  been  a  sur- 

*Mrs.  Suttenfieid,  one  of  the  early  mothers  of  Fort  Wayne,  living  here  nineo  181<i, 
informed  the  writer  that  she  became  acquainted  with  this  woman  in  1815;  that  she 
and  her  family  lived  neighbors  to  her  for  several  years.  At  the  period  of  Mrs.  S.'s 
acquaintance  with  the  woman,  she  had  a  son,  a  man  of  some  years.  On  one  occasion, 
being  at  the  hut  of  the  woman,  the  man,  her  BOH,  came  in  intoxicated,  and  somewhat 
noisy,  and  the  woman,  by  way  of  an  apology  to  Mrs.  S.,  remarked  that  he  was  a  lit- 
tle SQUABBT,  or  drunk  ;  and  concluded  with  the  remark  that  he  was  a  SAOINASH,  (Eng- 
lish) ;  and  from  the  age  of  the  man,  the  inference  is  drawn  that  he  was  a  son  of 
Holmes.  After  leaving  here,  the  women  took  up  her  residence  at  Raccoon  Village. 
>ln- lived  to  a  very  old  age,  and  was  known  to  many  of  the  early  settlers  of  Ft.  Wayne. 
3Irs.  Suttenfield's  recollections  of  the  account  she  received  are,  that  the  Indian*  at  the 
time  of  the  conspiracy,  (probably  induced  by  Godefroi  and  his  associate)  forced  hor 
to  act  a«  she  did  towards  Holmes,  which  is  quite  probable. 


BETH  AVAL  A:;I>  Di-;ATir  OK  EXSIGX  HOLMES.  71 

in  the  fort,  lie  would  have  been  more  likely  to  have  at  least 
been  (jailed  on  by  the  Ensign  than  for  Holmes  to  have  gone  him- 
self,) preceded  by  the  Indian  girl,  he  was  soon  without  the  enclo- 
sure of  the  garrison,  and  advancing  with  cautious  steps  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  hut  wherein  lav  the  object  of  his  philanthropic  mis- 
sion. Nearing  a  cluster  of  huts,  which  are  described*  to  have  been 
situated  at  the  edge  of  an  open  space.  "  hidden  from  view  by  an 
intervening  spur  of  the  woodland,"  the  squaw  directed  him  to  the 
hut  wherein  lay  the  supposed  invalid.  Another  instant, — a  few 
more  paces, — and  the  sudden  crack  of  two  rifles  from  behind  the 
wigwam  i<i  view,  felled  Holmes  to  the  ear;]],  and  echoed  over  the 
little  garrison,  startling  the  guards  and  inmates  into  momentary 
surprise  and  wonder.  Amid  the  confusion,  the  gergearit  unthought- 
edly  passed  without  the  fort  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  rilie 
shots.  But  a  few  paces  were  gained,  when,  with  loud,  triumphant 
.shouts,  he  was  sprung  upon  by  the  savages  and  made  a  captive  ; 
which,  in  turn,  brought  the  soldiers  within,  about  nine  in  all,  to 
the  palisades  of  the  garrison,  who  clambered  up  to  see  the  move- 
ment without,  when  a  Canadian,  of  the  name  of  Godfroi,  (or 
Godf'ri)  accompanied  by  u  two  other  white  men,"  stepped  defiantly 
forth,  and  demanded  a  surrender  of  the  fort,  with  the  assurance  to 
Ibe  soldiers  that,  if  at  once  complied  with,  their  lives  would  be 
spared:  but,  refusing,  they  should  "  all  be  killed  without  mercy."t 

The  aspect  before  them  was  now  sadly  embarrassing.  Without  a 
commander — without  hope?  and  full  of  fear,  to  hesitate,  seemed  only 
to  make  death  the  more  certain,  and  the  garrison  gate  soon  swung 
back  upon  its  hinges ;  the  surrender  was  complete,  and  English 
rule,  at  this  point,  and  for  a  time,  at  least,  had  ceased  to  exercise 
its  power. 

More  than  a  hundred  and  four  years  have  now  rolled  away  since 
this  eventful  hour;  and  the  placid  and  beautiful  St.  Joseph,  (near 
which  the  fort  stood),  with  its  high  embankments  and  overhanging 
boughs,  sweeps  as  noiselessly  and  unpretendingly  by  the  scene,  as 
when  t,he  fort,  with  its  bastions  and  palisades,  overlooked  its  waters, 
and  the  Indian  huts,  with  their  dusky  inmates,  dotted  the  adjacent 
localities  ;  while,  in  the  distance,  appears  a  beautiful  city,  with  nu- 
merous tall  spires  and  handsome  ecliiices,  covering  more  than  two 
thousand  acres  of  ground,  and  containing  nearly  thirty  thousand 
inhabitants,  whose  busy  tread,  mechanical  industry,  active  pur- 
suits, and  habits  of  thought,  tell  of  a  glorious,  free,  and  happy 
Future.  In  silent  awe,  indifferent  alike  of  the  Past,  the  Present, 
and  the  Coming  Time,  the  long  line  of  buildings,  gazing  compla- 
cently, as  it  were,  upon  the  scene  of  the  ancient  garrison,  and  the 
site  of  the  Indian  village,  seem  to  say  :  "Whitjier  and  why  have 

*In  the  MSS.  of  the  "  Loss  of  the  Foots."  See  His.  of  Consn.  Pontiac,  napes  244  ami 
245. 

iOne  statement  is,  that  they  were  all  killed  ;  but  I  have  been  unable  to  find  i;..- 
vcrifiowt.'ton  in  any  of  the  r-rust-jd  ucewinte  1  ha«-c 


OF   IVOBT 

you  vanished?  Where  are  the  years  that  have  gone  by?  And 
why  are  WE  here  ? "  And  the  great  clock,  near  the  center,  (trio 
Court-house)  looking  from  all  sides,  momentarily  responds : 

"  PROGRESS  !  —  CIVILIZATION  !  —  ONWARD  ', " 


CHAPTER  VII. 


"These  forest-isles  are  full  of  story  :  — 

Here  many  a  one  of  old  renown 
First  Bought  the  meteor-light  of  glory, 

And  'mid  its  transient  flash  went  down. 

*          »    *  *  #  * 

And  all  the  bright  and  teeming  Present 

Thrills  with  the  great  and  cvcnciscent  Past." 

W.  D. 


A  return,  to  the  beleagured  garrison  at  Detroit — Aid  hourly  expected — Anxiety  of  the 
inmates — Pontiac  solicits  aid  from  the  Canadians — Relief  approaches  the  fort — 
"Broadside"  from  a  schooner — Pottawattamies  and  "Wyandotts  sue  for  peace — A 
calm  comes  over  the  troubled  waters — Fight  at  "bloody  bridge" — New  recruits 
to  the  army  of  Pontiac — Indians  board  the  schooner  "Gladwyn" — A  panic — Es- 
cape of  the  vessel — The  siege  abandoned  by  the  main  body  of  the  tribes — Pontiac 
and  his  tribe  left  alone  to  carry  on  the  siege — Pontiac  abandons  the  siege — Starts 
for  the  Maumee — A  hard  winter — Hxich  suffering — Great  council  at  Niagara — A 
new  campaign  against  the  western  tribes — Bradstreet  relieves  the  besieged  fort — 
Makes  a  treaty — Speech  of  Wasson — Captain  Morris — He  arrives  at  the  camp  of 
Pontiac — Rough  treatment — Escapes — Reaches  this  point — Miamies  want  to  kill 
him — Is  lodged  in  old  fort  Miami — Taken  across  the  St.  Joseph — His  final  release 
and  return  to  Detroit — Bradstreet's  movements— Bouquet  penetrates  the  Indian 
country — The  captives — Indians  subdued — Croghan's  visit  to  the  west — His  cap- 
ture— Meets  Pontiac — Council  at  Ouiatenon — Croghan's  return — Visit  to  this  point 
— His  journal — His  arrival  at  Detroit — Holds  a  council  there — The  great  council 
at  Oswego — Pontiac  attends — English  rule  again  in  the  west — Pontiac  visits  St. 
Louis — His  death. 


ETURNING  again  to  Detroit,  we  find  the  Indians  still  active 
in  their  efforts  to  capture  the  garrison,  and  all  within  the  pal- 
des  of  the  fort  anxiously  expecting  the  arrival  of  vessels 
with  men  and  provisions.  Pontiac  had  called  a  council  with 
the  Canadians,  and  made  a  strong  speech,  and  again  impor- 
tuned them  to  join  him  in  the  overthrow  of  the  English.  The 
Canadians  had  refused,  on  the  ground  that  the  French  King  and 


7-i  UiaTOKY  OF  FOKT 

the  English  Imd  signed  a  paper  stipulating  certain  bounds,  that 
then  belonged  to  tho  English  ;  an- 1  beine:  under  English  rule,  the 
French  King  having  told  them  to  remain  still  for  a  time,  until  h«- 
could  come  to  their  relief,  to  join  the  Indians  would  bo  ro  bring 
the  wrath  of  the  King  upon  both  the  Canadians  and  the  Indians, 
i'But,  my  brothers,"  said  the  Canadian  speaker,  at  the  council  with 
Fontice,  "you  must  first  untio  ihe  knot  with  which  our  father,  the 
King,  has  bound  us;"  and,  though  a  few  reckless  characters  among 
the  Canadians  are  said  to  have  joined  the  Indians  at  the  time,  in 
compliance  with  Fontiac's  desire,  yet  the  effort  was  nevertheless 
a  failure.  Pontiae  was  defeated  in  his  designs,  and  was  destined 
isoon  to  meet  with  utter  failure  in  his  effort  to  capture  the  garrison. 
On  the  19th  of  June,  Gladwyn  had  received  news  to  tho  effect  that 
a  "vessel  had  been  seen  near  Turkey  Jsland,  not  far  distant  front 
Detroit ;  and  the  anxiety  for  her  arrival  became  very  great.  On 
the  L'3d  the  vessel  began"  to  near  the  point  of  landing,  opposite  the 
fort,  and  the  Indians  could  be  seen  in  the  distance  preparing  to 
make  an  attack  upon  her;  which  induced  Gladwyn  to  fire  two 
cannon  shots,  as  well  to  put  the  Indians  to  flight  as  to  let  the  vessel 
know  all  was  yet  safe  within  the  fort.  Having  encountered  some 
regibtence  on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  and  desiring  to  move  \nth 
care,  several  days  now  elapsed  before  the  vessel  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  place  of  landing,  beside  another  schooner  that  had 
for  some  time  previously  been  lying  at  anchor  there.  Bringing  a 
supply  of  provision  and  a  number  of  fresh  recruits,  the  new  schoon- 
ers had  readily  become  objects  of  no  little  aversion  to  the  wild 
a.-sailants.  On  one  occasion,  shortly  after  tho  arrival  of  the  last 
vessel,  thinking  to  assail  the  Indians  with  a  few  broadsides  from 
"me  point  in  the  stream,  "  (»ladwyn  himself,  with  several  of  his 
officers,  had  embarked  on  board  the  smaller  vessel,  while  a  fresh 
breeze  was  blowing  from  the  northwest-  The  Indians  on  the 
bank  stood  watching  her  as  she  tacked  from  shore  to  shore;  and 
pressed  their  hands  against  their  months,  in  amazement,  thinking 
that  magic  power  alone  could  enable  her  thus  to  make  her  way 
against  wind  and  current.  Making  a  long  reach  from  the  opposite 
.shore,  she  came  on  directly  towards  the  camp  of  Fontiac,  hoi-  sails 
hwelling,  her  masts  leaning  over  till  the  black  muzzles  of  her  guns 
almost  touched  the  river.  The  Indians  watched  her  in  astonish- 
ment. On  she  came,  till  their  fierce  hearts  exulted  in  tho  idea 
that  she  would  run  ashore  within  their  clutches,  when,  suddenly  a 
shout  of  command  was  heard  on  board;  her  progress  was  arrested; 
*he  rose  upright,  and  her  sails  flapped  and  fluttered  as  if  tearing 
loose  from  their  fastenings.  Steadily  she  came  round,  broadside 
to  the  shore  ;  then,  leaning  once  more  to  the  wind,  bore  away  gal- 
lantly on  the  other  tack.  She  did  not  go  far.  The  wondering 
spectators,  quite  at  a  loss  to  understand  her  movements,  soon  heard 
the  coarse  rattling  of  her  cables  as  the  anchor  dragged  it  out,  and 
6aw  her  furling  her  vast  white  wings.  As  they  looked 


INDIANS  BOAXD  A  iSciioo^EK  —  THISIB  FLIGHT.  75 


ingly  on,  a,  puff  of  smoke  was  emitted  from  her  side  ;  a  long  report 
followed  ;  then  another,  and  another  ;  and  the  balls,  rushing  over 
their  heads,  flew  through  the  midst  of  their  camp,  and  tore  wildly 
among-  the  thick  forest  trees  beyond.  All  was  terror  and  conster- 
nation. The  startled  warriors  bounded  away  on  all  sides;  the 
squaws  snatched  up  their  children,  and  fled  screaming  ;  and,  with 
a  general  chorus  of  yells,  the  whole  encampment  scattered  in  such 
haste,  that  little  damage  was  done,  except  knocking  to  pieces  their 
frail  cabins  of  bark."* 

This  procedure  being  followed  by  similar  efforts,  the  Indian^ 
now  sought  to  destroy  their  new  opposers  by  means  of  floating 
rafts  of  lire;  but  all  to  no  great  purpose,  as  the  vessels  always 
managed  to  escape  their  contact.  And  thus  the  besiegers,  with  occa- 
sional new  recruits,  continued,  in  various  ways,  until  the  middle  of 
July,  when  some  Pottawattamies  and  Wyandotts  sued  for  peace, 
which,  under  certain  considerations,  being  granted,  but  little  of  in- 
terest is  said  to  have  occurred  until  the  end  of  July,  when  the  gar- 
rison was  again  reinforced  by  the  arrival,  after  a  sharp  encounter 
with  the  Indians,  (those  who  had  recently  made  peace),  of  twenty- 
two  barges,  with  about  two  hundred  and  eighty  men,  including 
"  several  small  cannon,  and  a  fresh  supply  of  provisions  and  ammu- 
nition." 

The  new  body  of  troops,  under  command  oT  Captain  Dalzell,  a 
brave  officer,  who  was  killed  soon  after  his  arrival,  were  not  long 
idle.  On  the  3lst  of  July  they  moved  out  with  a  view  of  silently 
attacking  the  Indians  at  a  certain  point,  afterwards  known  as  the 
"  bloody  bridge."  The  Indians  heard  pf  the  movement,  and  lay  in 
ambush.  The  fight  was  a  short  but  bloody  one  for  the  English, 
loosing,  as  they  did,  about  fifty-nine  men,  killed  and  wounded,  their 
captain  among  the  number;  and  the  Indians  some  fifteen  or  twenty, 
which  greatly  elated  the  latter,  who  sent  the  news  to  the  tribes  in 
every  direction  ;  and  "fresh  warriors,"  wrote  Gladwyn,  soon  began 
to  "arrive  almost  every  day  ;?'  until  ''upwards  of  a  thousand"  weiv 
thought  by  him  to  be  engaged  in  the  attack  under  Pontiac.  With 
a  few  skirmishes,  now  and  then,  nothing  of  special  interest  occurred 
until  the  night  oi  September  the  4th,  when  the  schooner  "Gladwyn", 
returning  to  Niagara,  was  attacked  by  the  Indians,  n,at  far  from  the 
fort,  as  she  lay  anchored  in  the  stream,  having  been  detained  for 
the  want  of  sufficient  wind.  The  Indians,  sonic  three  hundred  in 
number,  the  night  being  densely  dark,  dropped  silently  down  with 
the  current,  and  were  unobserved  until  near  the  vessel,  when  a 
broadside,  .  with  musketry,  was  opened  upon  them,  of  whom 
many  were  killed;  but  they  soon  began  to  board  the  vessel.  "The 
master  of  the  vessel  was  killed  ;  several  of  the  crew  were  disabled; 
and  the  assailants  were  leaping  over  the  bulwarks,  when  Jacobs, 
the  mate,  called  out  to  .blow  up  the  schooner,"  which  "saved  her 
and  her  crew"  —  some  of  the  Wyandotts.  having  comprehended  "  the 

"Parkman, 


7«>  HlSTOUY    OK    FolCT    \V.\-.-M. 

meaning  of  his  words,"  giving  "the  alarm  to  their  companions,  in- 
stantly causing  every  Indian  to  leap  overboard  in  a  panic,  and  the 
whole  were  seen  diving  and  swimming  off  in  all  directions  to  escape 
the  threatened  explosion."*  The  schooner  being  thus  freed,  a$d 
the  Indians  fearing  to  make  further  effort,  "on  the  following  morn- 
ing she  sailed  for  the  fort,"  and  reached  Niagara  in  safety. 

At  length,  towards  the  close  of  September,  hearing  that 
n  large  force  was  conning  to  relieve  the  garrison,  and  being 
weary  of  their  labors,  the  Indians,  with  the  exception  of  Pontiac 
and  his  tribe,  the  Ottawas,  began  to  sue  for  peace,  and  a  truce  be- 
ing granted  them,  they  soon  departed  from  the  scene  of  the  besieg- 
ed fort,  and  took  to  the  forest  to  provide  food  for  their  families  and 
obtain  the  furs  and  hides  of  the  animals  so  long  left  unmolested. 

The  Ottawa?,  with  Fontiac,  being  now  left  alone  to  carry  on  the 
siege,  kept  up  the  attack  till  the  last  of  October,  when,  learning 
from  the  French  that  a  lasting  peace  had  been  made  between  the 
French  and  the  English,  and  that  aid  from  their  French  father,  the 
King,  was  now  no  longer  to  be  hoped  for,  "  in  rage  and  mortifica- 
tion," he  left  Detroit,  and,  with  a  number  of  his  chiefs,  "re- 
paired to  the  River  Maumee,  with  the  design  of  stirring  up  the 
Indians  in  that  quarter,  and  renewing  hostilities  in  the  spring.'* 'f 

The  winter  proved  a  hard  one ;  and  the  Indians  suffered  much 
from  cold  and  hunger.  The  siege  had  exhausted  their  ammuni- 
tion ;  the  fur-trade  having  been  interfered  with,  left  them  without 
many  articles  they  had  previously  been  in  the  habit  of  enjoying. 
But  before  the  cold  had  spent  itself,  Sir  William  Johnson  had  dis- 
patched messengers  to  many  tribes,  inviting  them  to  a  great  peace- 
council,  at  Niagara,  which  was  readily  responded  to ;  and  some 
two  thousand  warriors,  were  soon  gathered  about  Niagara  to  meet 
and  talk  with  Sir  William. 

There  were  yet,  however,  many  who  were  still  much  embittered 
in  their  feelings  towards  the  English,  and  would  not  attend  the 
council. 

The  "Menomenies,  Ottawas,  Ojibwas,  Mississaugas,  from  the 
north,  Caughnawas,  from  Canada,  even  Wyandotts,  from  Detroit, 
with  a  host  of  Iroquois ;"  while  "  the  Sacs,  Foxes,  and  the  Winne- 
bagoes  had  sent  their  deputies;  and  also  the  Osages,  a  tribe  be- 
yond the  Mississippi,  had  their  representatives  in  the  general 
meeting." 

The  attitude  of  many  of  the  tribes  of  the  northwest,  had  early 
superinduced  a  vigorous  movement  on  the  part  of  the  English  gov- 
ernment for  their  chastisement. 

The  plan  of  this  campaign  embraced  two  armies, — one  to  be 
led  by  Colonel  Bouquet,  and  the  other  by  Colonel  Bradstreet,  the 
former  to  move  towards  Fort  Pitt,  and  to  the  country  of  the  hos- 
tile Shawanoes  and  Delawares,  along  the  Scioto  and  Muskingum 
rivers ;  while  Bradstreet  was  to  push  forward  to  Detroit. 

"Parkmw.        »Ibid. 


THE  SIEGE  ABANDON  teti  BY  POKTIAC.  7f 

Bradstreet  had  proceeded  Bouquet,  and  being  of  a  most  ambi- 
tious turn  of  mind,  or  at  least  quite  anxious  to  do  as  much  of  the 
work  as  possible,  met  some  of  the  hostile  tribes,  on  his  march  who, 
to  delay  the  action  of  the  army,  sought  for  peace,  and  he  concluded 
treaties  with  them,  on  certain  stipulated  grounds,  a  matter  that  be- 
longed entirely  to  Sir  William  Johnson.  Supposing  that  he  had 
done  about  all  the  work,  (though  the  Indians  were  then  menacing 
the  frontier  settlements,)  sent  word  to  Bouquet  to  that  effect;  and 
u  while  Bradstreet's  troops  were  advancing  upon  the  lakes,  or  lying 
idle  in  their  camps  at  Sandusky,  another  expedition  (Bouquet:s) 
was  in  progress  southward,  with  abler  conduct  and  a  more  auspi- 
cious result."* 

On  the  26th  of  August,  Bradstreet  reached  the  long-besieged 
fort  of  Detroit,  which  was  a  most  happy  moment  to  Gladwyn  and 
his  little  corps  of  soldiers  within  the  garrison,  who  had  been  more 
or  less  beset  by  the  beseigers  up  to  that  time, — the  Indians,  having 
resumed  hostilities,  in  the  spring^  as  proposed  by  Pontiac — a 
period  of  upwards  of  fifteen  mouths. 

Before  quiting  Sandusky,  Bradstreet  had  commissioned  and  sent 
one  Captain  Morris,  an  Englishman,  accompanied  by  a  number  of 
Canadians  and  friendly  Indians,  as  attendants,  towards  the  country 
of  the  Illinois  to  treat  with  and  bring  the  Indians  of  that  portion  of 
the  west  to  friendly  terms. 

Pontiac  and  his  followers,  sullen  and  intractable,  had  left  De- 
troit, and  again  taken  up  his  abode,  for  the  time,  on  the  Maumee, 
a  few  miles  below  the  present  site  of  Fort  Wayne,  whence  he  is 
said  to  have  "  sent  a  haughty  defiance  to  the  English  commander" 
at  Detroit :  and  many  of  the  Indians  about  Detroit  had  gone  with 
Pontiac,  leaving  there  but  a  few  remnant  tribes,  who,  for  the  most 
part,  exhibiting  a  desire  for  peace,  Bradstreet  soon  gave  them  an 
opportunity  to  express  their  sense  of  feeling  in  this  relation,  and  a 
council  was  held  with  this  view,  at  that  point,  on  the  7th  of  Sep- 
tember. 

Upon  the  condition, — which  they  are  said  to  have  happily  not 
understood  at  all^  and  which,  not  understanding,  they  readily  ac- 
cepted,— "  that  they  become  subjects  of  the  King  of  England," — a 
treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  with  them. 

At  this  council  were  present  portions  of  the  Miamies,  Pottawat- 
tamies,  Ottawas,  Ojibwas,  Sacs,  and  Wyandotts.  Said  Wasson, 
an  Ojibwa  chief,  to  the  English  commander,  on  this  occasion: 

"  My  Brother,  last  year  God  forsook  its.  God  has  now  opened 
our  eyes,  and  we  desire  to  be  heard.  It  was  God's  will  you  had 
such  fine  weather  to  come  to  us.  It  is  God's  will  also  that  there 
should  be  peace  and  tranquility  over  the  face  of  the  earth  and  of 
the  waters" — openly  acknowledging  that  "the  tribes  he  repre- 

*Parknisn. 


78  UI.STOBT  OF  FOBT  \\'A$'»E; 


wore  justly  chargeable  with  the  war,  and  deeply  regreted 
ubsen»-«'.M 

But  let  us  look  after  Morris  and  his  companions,  who  are  now 
rowing,  as  rapidly  as  their  strength  and  the  current  will  admit,  up 
the  beautiful  Maumee. 

Ascending  this  stream  in  a  canoe,  runs  the  narration,*  he  soon 
approached  the  camp  of  Pontiac,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  had  with- 
drawn to  the  banks  of  this  river,  with  his  chosen  warriors.  While 
yet  at  ^ome  distance,  Morris  and  his  party  were  met  by  about  two 
hundred  Indians,  who  treated  him  with  great  violence,  while  they 
ottered  a  friendly  welcome  to  the  Iroquois  and  Canadian  attend- 
ants. Accompanied  by  this  clamorous  escort,  all  moved  together 
towards  the  camp.  At  its  outskirts  stood  Pontiac  himself.  He 
met  the  ambassador  with  a  scowling  brow$  and  refused  to  ofier  his 
hand.  "The  English  are  liars,''  was  his  first  fierce  salutation.  He 
then  displayed  a  letter  addressed  to  himself  and  purporting  to  have 
been  written  by  the  King  of  France,  containing,  as  Morris  declared, 
"the  grossest  calumnies  which  the  most  ingenious  malice  could 
devise,  to  incense  the  Indians  against  the  English/'  The  old  story 
had  not  been  forgotten.  "  Your  French  Father,-'  said  the  writei}, 
"  is  neither  dead  nor  asleep  ;  he  is  already  on  h'is  way,  with  sixty 
great  ships,  to  revenge  himself  on  the  English,  and  drive  them  out 
of  America."  It  is  evident,  concluded  the  account,  "  that  the  let- 
ter had  emenated  from  a  French  officer,  or  more  probably  a  French 
fur-trader,  who,  for  his  own  aggrandizment,  sought  to  arouse  the 
antipathy  of  the  natives  to  the  detriment  and  further  encroachment 
of  the  English;  and  Bradstreet,  for  not  having  brought  the  Indians 
to  a  state  of  subjection'  before  his  departure  from  Sandusky,  is  in 
no  little  degree  censured  for  the  result  of  Morris'  subsequent  efforts 
and  harsh  treatment  in  meeting  with  Pontiac;  for  the  fact  of  so 
many  of  the  Indians  being  held  as  prisoners  by  the  English,  at  De- 
troit, even  acted  as  a  powerful  check  to  the  Ottawas  in  their  action 
towards  Morris. 

"The  Indians  led  me,"  says  Morris,f  "up  to  a  person^  who  stood 
advanced  before  two  slaves,  (prisoners  of  the  Panis  nation,-  taken 
in  war  and  kept  in  slavery,)  who  had  arms,  himself  holding  a 
fusee,  with  the  butt  on  the  ground.  By  his  dress  and  the  air  he 
assumed,  he  appeared  to  be  a  French  officer:  I  afterwards  found 
lie  was  a  native  of  old  France,  had  been  long  in  the  regular  troops 
as  a  drunum-r.  and  that  his  war-name  was  ISt.  Vincent.  This  fine- 
dressed,  half-French,  half-Indian  figure  desired  me  to  dismount  ;  :i 
Ix-ar-skin  was  spread  on  the  ground,  and  St.  Vincent  and  I  sat  upon 

"As  compiled  from  Mwrris'  own  statement,  and  the  testimony  of  the  Canadian  and 
Indian  guidea.J  jSee  History  of  the  Consp.  of  Poutiac,  pages  4&)  to  474,  and  in  Appen- 
dix F. 

f  Say*  Prirkmsn  :  ",Mi>rri*  appears  to  hnvc  been  a  person  of  strong   literary   tastes. 


conft«!t.u>n  with 


i*  AND  HIS  GlTIDKS  AfiRIVB  HERE.  Ti> 

it,  the  wliolc  Indian  army,  circle  within  circle,  standing  round  us. 
Godcfroi  sat  at  a  little  distance  from  us;  and  presently  came  Pori- 
diac.*  and  squatted  himself,  after  his  fashion,  opposite  to  me.  This 
Indian,"  continues  he,  "  has  a  more  extensive  power  than  ever  was 
known  among  that  people;  for  every  chief  tis&d.  to  command  his 
own  tribe:  but  eighteen  nations,  by  French  intrigile,  had  been 
brought  to  unite,  and  chuse  this  man  for  their  commander,  after 
the  English  had  conquered  Canada;  having  been  taught  to  believe, 
that,  aided  by  France,  they  might  make  a  vigorous  push  and  drive 
us  out  of  North  America."  *  *  *  *  *  "Pondiac  said  to 
ray  chief:  'If  you  have  made  peace  with  the  English,  \ve  have  no 
business  to  make  war  on  them.  The'  war-belt  came  from  you.'  He 
afterwards  said  to  Godefroi:  'i  will  lead  the  nations  to  war  no  more ; 
lefc  'em  be  at  peace,  if  they  chuse  it;  but  I  myself  will  never  be  a 
friend  to  the  English.  I  shall  now  become  a  wanderer  in  the 
woods ;  and  if  they  come  to  seek  me  there,  while  I  have  an  arrow 
left  1  will  shoot  at  them.' 

"  He  made  a  speech  to  the  chiefs,"  continues  Morris,  "  who 
wanted  to  put  me  to  death,  which  does  him  honor ;  and  shows  that 
he  was  acquainted  with  the  law  of  nations  5  v  We  must  not,'  said  he; 
k  kill  ambassadors ;  do  we  not  send  them  to  the  Flat-heads,  our 
greatest  enemies,  and  they  to  us  ?  Yet  these  are  always  treated 
with  hospitality."' 

After  relieving  the  party  of  all  but  their  canoe-,  clothing,  and 
arms,  they  were  permitted  to  resume  their  course  without  further 
molestation. 

(Quitting  the  inhospitable  camp  of  Pontiac,  with  poles  and  pad- 
dles, against  a  strong,  current,  they  continued  their  course  up 
the  beautiful  Maumee,  and,  in  seven  days  from  their  first  out-set^ 
in  the  morning,  they  arrived  and  made  a  landing,  within  sight  of 
Fort  Miami,  (at  this  point)  which,  from  the  time  of  its  capture^ 
after  the  death  of  Holmes,  the  previous  year,  had  been  without  a 
garrison,  its  only  occupants  being  a  few  Canadians  who  had  erec- 
ted some  huts  within  its  enclosure1,  together  with  a  small  number 
of  Indians  who  made  it  their  place  of  shelter  for  ft  time.  The 
open  points  in  the  locality  of  the  fort,  at  that  time,  were  princi- 
pally covered  with  the  wigwams  of  the  Kickapoos,  quite  a  largo 
body  of  whom  having  but  lately  reached  here.  On  the  opposite 
side,f  covered  by  an  intervening  strip  of  forest,  quite  hiden  from 
View,  stood  the  Miami  villages. 

Having  brought  the  canoe  to  a  place  of  landing,  a  short  distance 
below  the  fort,  and  began  the  adjustment  of  some  necessary  affairs, 

*The  former  style  of  spelling  the  name,  or  at  least  as  usually  spelt  by  the  English  at 
'that  time. 

t At  the  period  of  Morris'  arrival  at  this  point,  and  for  many  years  after,  the  reader 
must  infer  that  tbe  huts  of  the  Miamies  extended  on  both  sides  of  the  St.  .loseph,  dot- 
ting much  of  the  fk-ld  adjacent  to  the  "Mad  Anthony  Pork"  or  orchard,  including, 
perhaps,  much  of  the  present  site,  of  the  orchard  itself,  and  on  the  opposite  side,  ruu 
uinsc  fw  far  west,  n«  th<i  Agricultural  W.-.rks  mid  tJieroa.V'ont. 


SO  HISTORY  OB-  FOET  WAYNE. 

his  attendants  strode  off  through  the  strip  of  woods*  towards  the 
village ;  and  it  is  stated  as  most  fortunate  that  he  thus  remained 
behind,  for,  scarcely  had  his  attendants  reached  the  open  space  be- 
yond the  woods,  when  they  were  met  by  a  band  of  savages,  armed 
with  spears,  hatchets,  and  bows  and  arrows,  resolutely  determining 
'to  destroy  the  Englishman,  Morris.f  Not  yet  perceiving  him,  the 
chiefs  accompanying  Morris,  began  at  once  to  address  them,  and 
to  endeavor  to  dissuade  them  from  their  purpose,  which  had  the 
desired  effect,  at  least,  in  so  far  as  taking  his  life  was  concerned. 
X/oming  up,  in  a  few  moments,  to  the  point  where  Morris  stood, 
they  at  once  began  to  threaten  him  and  treat  him  very  roughly, 
and  took  him  to  the  fort,  where  he  was  commanded  to  remain,  for- 
bidding the  Canadians  there  to  permit  him  to  enter  their  huts.  A 
deputation  of  Shawanoe  and  Delaware  chiefs,  which  tribes,  the 
reader  will  remember,  were  at  that  time  making  great  prepara- 
tions to  move  against  the  English,  though  pretending  to  be  friendly  ^ 
had  recently  come  to  the  Miami  village  here,  with  fourteen  war- 
belts,  and  with  a  view  of  arousing  the  Miamies  again  to  arms  against 
the  English^  and  it  was  to  these  that  was  mainly  ascribed  the  cause 
of  Morris'  treatment  on  his  arrival  here.  From  this  point  they  had 
proceeded  westward,  arousing  a  similar  spirit  among  all  the 
tribes  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Ohio,  avowing  that  they  would 
never  make  friends  with  the  English — that  they  would  fight  them 
as  long  as  the  sun  shone ;  and  earnestly  pressed  the  Illinois  tribes 
to  join  them  in  their  terrible  determination. 

But  Morris  had  not  long  remained  at  the  fort,  before  two  Miami 
warriors  came  to  him,  and,  with  raised  tomahawks,  grasped  him 
by  the  arms,  forced  him  without  the  garrison,  and  led  him  to  the 
river.  Walking  forward  into  the  water  with  him,  Morris'  first 
thought  was  that  the  Indians  sought  to  drown  him,  and  then  take 
his  scalp  ;  but.  instead^  they  led  him  across  the  stream,  then  quite 
low,  and  moved  towards  the  center  of  the  Miami  village,  on  the 
\\-rst  side  of  the  St.  Joseph.  Nearing  the  wigwams,  the  Indians 
ceased  to  go  further,  and  at  once  sought  to  undress  him ;  but  finding 
the  task  rather  difficult,  they  became  quite  angry  thereat; 
and  Morris  himself,  "  in  rage  and  despair,"  "tore  off  his*  uniform." 
Then  tying  his  arms  behind  him  with  his  own  sash,  the  Indians 
drove  him  forward  into  the  village.  Speedily  issuing  from  all 
the  wigwams  to  see  and  receive  the  prisoner,  in  great  numbers, 
the  Indians  gathered  about  him,  "  like  a  swarm  of  angry  bees," 
-1\  in-  vent  to  terrific  yells — "sounds  compared  to  which,  the  noc- 
turnal howlings  of  starved  wolves  are  gentle  and  melodious."!  r^ne 
largest  portion  of  the  villagers  were  for  killing  him;  but. a  division 
arising  between  them,  as  to  what  was  best  to  do  with  him,  readily 

•This  point  must  have  been  near  or  just  below  the  confluence  of  the  St.  Mary  and 
Si.  Joseph.  A  visit  to  and  little  survey  of  all  these  points,  would  render  them  the  more 
interesting  and  familiar  to  the  thoughtful  and  curious. 

+Hi».  CnjiBp.  Tont.ito.  p  471. 


&OUGH  TREATMENT  OF  MORRIS  AT  THE  MIAMI  VILLAGE.         81 

developed  a  vociferous  debate ;  when  two  of  the  Canadians,  of  the 
names  of  Godefroi  and  St.  Vincent,  who  had  accompanied  him  to 
this  point,  and  who  had  now  followed  him  to  the  village,  came  for- 
ward and  began  to  intercede  with  the  chiefs  in  behalf  of  their  pris- 
oner. A  nephew  of  Pontiac  was  among  the  chiefs, — who  is  rep- 
resented as  a  young  man,  possessing  much  of  the  bold  spirit  of  his 
uncle,  and  who  heroically  spoke  against  the  propriety  of  killing  the 
prisoner ;  and  Godefroi  desisted,  saying  "  that  he  would  not  see 
one  of  the  Englishmen  put  to  death,  when  so  many  of  the  Indians 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  army  at  Detroit."  A  Miami  chief,  called 
the  Swan,  is  also  represented  as  having  protected  the  prisoner,  and 
cut  the  sash  binding  his  arms.  Morris,  beginning  now  to  speak  in 
his  own  defense,  was  again  seized  by  a  chief  called  the  White  Cat, 
and  bound  to  a  post  by  the  neck ;  at  which  another  chief,  called  the 
Pacanne,  rode  up  on  horseback,  cut  the  band  with  his  hatchet,  at 
once  giving  Morris  his  freedom  again,  exclaiming,  as  he  did  so,  "  I 
give  this  Englishman  his  life.  If  you.  want  English  meat,  go  to 
Detroit  or  to  the  lake,  and  you  will  find  enough  of  it.  What  busi- 
ness have  you  with  this  man,  who  has  come  to  speak  with  us  ? " 

The  deterniined  will  and  bold  words  of  Pacanne  had  the  desired 
effect.  A  change  of  feeling  now  readily  began  to  show  itself;  and 
the  prisoner,  without  further  words  or  beating  from  any  of  the  crowd, 
was  so®n  violently  driven  out  of  the  village,  whither  he  soon  made 
his  way  to  the  fort.  On  his  way,  however,  it  is  stated,  an  Indian 
met  him,  and,  with  a  stick,  beat  his  exposed  body. 

His  position  was  now  most  critical ;  and  while  the  Canadians  in 
the  fort  were  disposed  to  protect  him,  they  were  yet  loth  to  lay 
themselves  liable  to  distrust  or  danger ;  and  the  same  warriors  who 
had  taken  him  to  the  village,  were  now  lurking  about,  ready  to  em- 
brace the  first  opportunity  to  kill  him  ;  while  the  Kickapoos,  near 
by,  had  sent  him  word  that,  if  the  Miamies  did  not  kill  him,  they 
would  whenever  he  passed  their  camp.  Again,  on  the  eve  of  set- 
ting out  on  his  journey  to  the  Illinois,  notwithstanding  the  dan- 
gers now  thickening  about  him,  and  the  great  distance  yet  before 
him,  his  Canadian  and  Indian  attendants  strongly  urged  him  not  to 
proceed  farther ;  and,  on  the  evening  of  this  day,  they  held  a  coun- 
cil with  the  Miami  chiefs,  wherein  it  became  the  more  evident  that 
his  situation  was  most  perilous,  and  that  any  attempt  to  continue 
his  journey  would  be  most  disastrous;  and  while  many  messages 
were  continually  reaching  him,  threatening  to  put  an  end  to  his 
life,  should  he  attempt  to  fulfill  his  mission,  report  was  also  con- 
veyed to  him  that  several  ol  the  Shawanoe  deputies  were  then  re- 
turning to  the  garrison  expressly  to  kill  him.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, readily  abandoning  his  determination  to  proceed  farther, 
he  soon  began  to  row  his  bark  towards  Detroit,  whither  he  arrived 
on  the  17th  of  September.  Not  finding  Bradstreet  there,  as  he  had 
anticipated,  he  having  returned  to  Sandusky,  and  Morris,  now  quite 
weary  and  fatigued,  unable  to  proceed  farther,  from  the  hardships 

(6) 


82  UISTOY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

he  had  undergone,  soon  sent  the  former  an  account  of  his  efforts,  in 
which,  tugct:  :ucts  already  presented,  was  tlic  following 

date  September  IS  : 

"The  villains  have  nipped  our  fairest  hopes  in  tlie  bud.     I  trem- 
ble udusky  ;  though  I  was  pleased  to  find  you  hav; 

<>ne  •  la  with  you,  and  artillery.     1  wish  the  chiefs  wore 

iiibu.-d  on  board  the  vessel,  and  that  she  had  a  hole  in  her  !>o!- 
,iery  should  be  paid  with  treachery  ;  and  it  is  more 
.  !uin  ordinary  pleasure  to  deceive  liio.se  who  would  dee. 

Bi-adjitreofs  jail  in  object  in  returning  to  Sandnsky,  was  to  i'nlliU 

his  promise  with  the  Delaware  and  Shawanoo  ambassadors  to  meet 

.  jit  th::t  i  joint,  —  about  the  period  of  Morris'  return,  —  to  receive 

.Boners  held  by  them,  and   cojjciiule  a  treaty  of  peace.     The 

deputation  i;o.  c-mim;g  to  time,  left  him  much  disappointed  for  sev- 

eral days,  when  a  number  of  'warriors  of  these  tribes  came  to  Brad- 

stroet's  camp  with  the  plea,  that,  if  lie  would  not  attack  them,  t: 

•'.d  bring  the  prisoners  the  next  week,  which  Bradstrcet  readily 

:,••(••,",.  :;-»i,  ;<,nd,  removing  his  camp  to  the  carrying-place  oi  Sandns- 

.  i  :y  in  waiting  for  the  Indians  and  the  prisoners.     Soon   recoiv- 

i  letter  from  (ienerai  Ga«re,  condemnatory  of  Iiis  course,  —  in- 

of  treatment  with  the  Indians  was  inadequate 

;  .-.  results  with  them,  and  ordering  him  !»•'  fireak  en- 

ua^emonts  with  them,  and  move  upon  the  enemy  at  once,  —  cl> 

upon  the  receipt  of  which  also  came  the  journal  of  Captain  Morris, 

••nahlino  him  readily  lo  see  "liow  signally  he  had  been  dnped:" 

iiiouo-h  subsequent  facts  proved  that  .some  good  did  result  from 

<-t's  course  with  the.  Indians  at  Detroit,  as  many  ol't 

:.>^>  lu-cdiiH?  more  reasonable  and   tranquil  in  their  actions, 

.JMI:    uK-qiirited    and    not    teeing  lit   to    comply  with   G 

«;iim«i:i:jus,  ne    broke    up    his    camp    at    Sawclusky,    and  wended 

•w  v,;av  unvards  Niagara,  meeting  with  many  disasters  on  his  voy  - 


'••in  under  Bouquet,  to  the  southward,  had  now  done 

'  ;avin;v  penetrated  to  the  center  u!'  the  Delaware'  towns, 

inio  thermos!,  extensive  settlements  of  the  Sha\van«rs,  about  I  •">'> 

Junes  irom  rort  i*itt,  to  the  northwest,  with  a  large  body  of  regular 

ami  provincial  troops,  he  soon  humbled  rln-^e  Avilv  and  iinre-it-niii:  i 

•••i'.H-.s,  and  >;]j«e:iiiy  Compelled  them  to  deliver  ail  the  prisoners  in 

I'M.]:  iiiii. 

During  the  frontier  struggles,  for  some  years  prior  to  BouqaetV 

ranij.aign.  l;undveds  of  fjimii;  .   the'  borders  had  been  mas- 

.;id  ntsuy  carried  away  to  the  forest  by  tlie  Indians;  anil 

.     .  ,  rreil  on  his  expedition  against  the  Shawances  and 

.        ,,i  the  interior,  loading  the  border  settlements,   lie  was 

•rly  joi'ie  1  by  i.iany  who,  years  before,  had  lost  their  i'riemls. 

i'i«%  Jua::y  prison.  :-.s    brou  iht  into   the  camp  of  Bouquet, 

En  all,)  while  jn  the  settlements  of  the.se  tribes, 

•SIT  Y         .  .    -...is  their  children,  from  whom 


BOUQUET  AND  THE  CAPTIVES — EFFECTING  SCENE.  83 

they  had  been  separated  for  years.  Women,  frantic  between  hope 
find  fear,  were  running  hither  and  thither,  looking-  piercingly  into 
the  face  of  every  child,  to  lind  their  own,  which,  perhaps,  had 
died — and  then  such  shrieks  of  agony !  Some  of  the  little  captives 
shrank  from  their  own  forgotten  mothers,  and  hid  in  terror  in  the 
blankets  of  the  squaws  that  had  adopted  them.  Some  that  had 
been  taken  away  young,  had  grown  up  and  married  Indian  husbands 
or  Indian  wives,  now  stood  utterly  bewildered  with  conflicting 
emotions.  A  young  Virginian  had  found  his  wife;  but  his  little 
boy,  not  two  years  old  when  captured,  had  been  torn  from  her,  and 
had  been  carried  off  no  one  knew  whither.  One  day,  a  warrior  came 
in  leading  a  child.  No  one  seemed  to  own  it.  But  soon  the  mother 
knew  her  offspring,  and  screaming  with  joy,  folded  her  son  to'  her 
bosom.  An  old  woman  had  lost  her  granddaughter  in  the  French 
war,  nine  years  before.  All  her  other  relatives  had  died  under  tho 
kniie.  Searching,  with  trembling  eagerness,  in  each  face,  she  at 
last  recognized  the  altered  features  of  her  child.  But  the  girl  had 
forgotten  her  native  tongue,  and  returned  no  answer,  arid  made  no 
sign.  The  old  woman  groaned,  and  complained  bitterly,  that  the 
daughter  she  had  so  often  sung  to  sleep  on  her  knees,  had  forgotten 
her  in  her  old  age.  Soldiers  and  officers  were  alike  overcome. 
"  Sing,"  said  Bouquet  to  the  old  lady,  "  sing  the  song  you  used  to 
sing."  As  the  low  trembling  tones  began  to  ascend,  the  wild  girl 
gave  one  sudden  start,  then  listening  for  a  moment  longer,  her 
frame  shaking  like  an  ague,  she  burst  into  a  passionate  flood  of 
tears.  She  was  indeed  the  lost  child.  All  else  had  been  effaced 
from  her  memory,  save  the  recollection  of  that  sweet  song  of  her 
infancy.  She  had  heard  it  in  her  dreams.*  The  tender  sensibili- 
ties and  affectionate  throbbings  so  often  manifested  by  the  civil- 
ized soul  under  heavy  affliction,  were  feelings  foreign,  as  a  general 
rule,  to  the  Indian  heart.  His  temperament  was  iron  ;  he  had  ever 
been  nurtured  in  an  opposite  condition  of  growth ;  and,  conse- 
quently, he  is  said  to  have  held  such  expressions  of  the  heart  in  con- 
tempt ;  but  when  the  song  of  the  old  lady  was  seen  by  them  to 
touch  the  captive's  heart  and  bring  her  again  to  a  mothers  arms, 
rliey  were  overcome  with  emotion,  and  the  heart  of  the  Indian  beat 
heavily  under  the  weight  of  feeling  that  suddenly  convulsed  him 
as  he  gazed  upon  the  strange  scene  then  enacted. 

Many  captive  women  who  returned  to  the  settlements  with  their 
friends  soon  after  made  their  escape,  and  wandered  back  to  their 
Indian  husbands  again,  so  great  was  the  change  that  had  taken 
place  in  their  natures.  Such  was  the  magnetic  power  of  the  Indian 
and  the  wilds  of  the  forest  over  the  civilized  soul. 

The  English  having  now  subdued  the  tribes  of  the  northwest, 
and  completed  definite  treaties  with  them  at  Niagara,  began  to 
contemplate  a  further  move  to  the  west  a:p,ci  -^urth,  with  a  view  to> 
securing-  the  country  and  posts  ataui?  the.  Illinois  and  Mississippi ; 

*  "  Rtat'-s  an  1  T  •:v!twK"s  of  t';o  Groat  lY'os*,"  msp-  13G,  ^37., 


84  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYXE. 

of  which  Pontiac  soon  became  aware,  and,  leaving-  his  place  of 
seclusion  on  the  Maumee,  where  Morris  had  met  him  and  received 
such  harsh  treatment  at  the  hands  of  his  warriors,  with  four  hun- 
«1  red  of  his  chiefs,  about  the  close  of  autumn,  passed  up  to  this 
point,  (Fort  Wayne)  and,  alter  a  short  stay,  on  to  the  Wabash,  and 
thence  to  the  Mississippi,  arousing  the  tribes  at  every  point  to  pre-  ^ 
pare  to  meet  and  destroy  the  English;  and,  having  gained  the 
French  settlements  and  other  places  where  the  French  traders  and 
habitant  were  to  be  met,  and  where  the  flag  of  France  was  still 
displayed,  (for  the  French  held  the  country  about  the  Illinois,  Mis- 
sissippi, and  to  the  southward,  as  far  as  New  Orleans,  for  some 
time  after  the  loss  of  Canada  and  the  upper  posts,)  the  French  fur- 
traders  and  engayees,  who  dreaded  the  rivalry  of  the  English  in  the 
fur-trade,  readily  gave  encouragement  to  Pontiac  and  his  followers, 
still  insisting  that  the  King  of  France  was  again  awake,  and  hi* 
great  armied  were  coming;  "that  the  bayonets  of  the  white-coated 
warriors  would  soon  glitter  amid  the  forests  of  the  Mississippi." 
But  Pontiac  seemed  doomed  to  disappointment  and  failure;  and; 
after  repeated  efforts,  having  visited  New  Orleans,  to  gain  the  aid 
of  the  French  governor  of  Louisiana,  he  returned  again  to  the  west. 
Determining  to  try  the  virtues  of  peace  proposals  in  advance  of 
the  army  to  the  westward  and  southward,  Sir  William  Johnson 
sent  forward  two  messengers,  Lieut.  Fraser  and  George  Croghan, 
to  treat  with  the  Indians  on  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois.  After 
many  hardships,  and  the  loss  of  their  stores,  through  the  severity 
of  the  winter,  &c.,they  reached  Fort  Pitt,  where,  after  some  delay 
ana  the  severe  cold  had  subsided,  with  a  few  attendants,  Fraser 
"i;t(ie  his  way  safely  down  the  Ohio  for  a  thousand  miles,  where, 
eoming  to  a  halt,  he  met  with  very  rough  treatment  from  the  In- 
dians. A  short  time  after,  in  the  month  of  May,  Croghan,  with 
Komo  Shawnoe  and  Delaware  attendants,  also  moved  down  the  Ohio, 
as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  where,  being  fired  upon  by  a 
party  of  Kickapoos,  and  several  of  the  attendants  killed,  Croghan 
and  the  remainder  were  taken  prisoners,  whither  they  proceeded  to 
Yincennes,  where,  finding  many  friendly  Indians,  he  was  well  re- 
(•••ived,  and  the  Kickapoos  strongly  censured  for  their  work.  From 
this  point  they  went  to  Ouiatenon,  arriving  there  on  the  23d,  where 
also  Croghan  met  a  great  many  friendly  Indians.  Here  he  began 
t«>  make  preparations  for  a  council,  and  was  met  by  a  large  num- 
!"•!•  of  Indians,  who  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  with  him.  Soon  re- 
.-.•ivin- an  invitation,  from  St.  Ange,  to  visit  Fort  Chartres,  lower 
dmyn,  Croghan,  accompanied  by  a  large  number  of  Indians,  left 
<  )iuut<-!ion  1'Qr  that  point,  and  had  not  journeyed  far  when  they  met 
Pontiac  and  a  large  body  of  chiefs  and  warriors.  Pontiac  shook 
list-  hand  of  Croghan,  who  at  once  returned  with  the  party  to  Ouiate- 
nnn.  whore  a  great  concourse  of  chiefs  and  warriors  were  gathered. 
iac  complained  that  the  French  had  deceived  him,  and 
Offered  the  calumet  and  peace-bolt,  professing  strong  concurrence- 


CROGHAX'S  JOURNAL.  85 

with  the  Ouiatenon  chiefs  in  their  expressions  of  friendship  for  the 
English. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  meeting,  collecting  the  tribes  here  he 
had  desired  to  meet,  he  soon  took  up  his  line  of  march,  followed 
by  Pontiac  and  a  large  number  of  chiefs,  and  set  out  towards  De- 
troit, crossing  over  to  this  point,  Fort  Miami,  and  the  village  ad- 
jacent. 

Having  kept  a  regular  journal  of  his  mission,  filling  it  up  at 
every  point  on  the  route, — from  which  the  foregoing  is  princi- 
pally drawn, — while  here,  he  wrote, 

"  August  1st,  (1765).  The  Twigtwee  (TVightwee)  village  is  sit- 
uated on  both  sides  of  a  river,  called  St.  Joseph.  This  river  where 
it  falls  into  the  Miami  (Maumee)  river,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  this  place,  is  one  hundred  yards  wide,  on  the  east  side  of 
which  stands  a  stockade  fort,  somewhat  ruinous.* 

"  The  Indian  village  consists  of  about  forty  or  fifty  cabins,  be- 
sides nine  or  ten  French  houses,  a  runaway  colony  from  Detroit, 
during  the  late  Indian  war ;  they  were  concerned  in  it,  and  being 
afraid  of  punishment,  came  to  this  point,  where  ever  since  they 
have  spirited  up  the  Indians  against  the  English.  ***** 
The  country  is  pleasant,  the  soil  is  rich  and  well  watered.  After 
several  conferences  with  these  Indians,  and  their  delivering  me  up 
all  the  English  prisoners  they  had,  on  the  6th  of  August  we  set  out 
for  Detroit,  down  the  Miamis  river  in  a  canoe. 

"  August  Yltli. — In  the  morning  we  arrived  at  the  fort,  (Detroit) 
which  is  a  large  stockade,  inclosing  about  eighty  houses ;  It  stands 
close  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  on  a  high  bank,  commands  a 
very  pleasant  prospect  for  nine  miles  above,  and  nine  miles  below 
the  fort ;  the  country  is  thickly  settled  with  French,  their  plantations 
are  generally  laid  about  three  or  four  acres  in  breadth  on  the  river, 
and  eighty  acres  in  depth ;  the  soil  is  good,  producing  plenty  of 
grain."f  Says  the  Canadians  were  both  poor  and  idle, — some  300 
or  400  families,  depending  mainly  upon  the  Indians  for  subsistence  ; 
had  adopted  the  Indian  manners  and  customs,  raising  but  little 
grain,  and  all,  men,  women,  and  children,  speaking  the  Indian  lan- 
guage perfectly  well,  etc. 

Many  Ottawas,  Pottawattamies,  and  Ojibwas  were  now  assem- 
bled, and,  in  the  same  old  council  hall  where  Pontiac,  some  months 
before,  by  stratagem,  had  essayed  to  overthrow  the  English,  great 
throngs  of  relenting  warriors  readily  convened  in  obedience  to  the 
call  of  the  English  ambassador.  The  expressions  among  the  tribes 
and  deputies  of  tribes  present,  was  one  of  mingled  repentence  and 
regret ;  and  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  August,  Croghan  addressed 
them,  after  their  own  figurative  style,  as  follows: 

"  Children,  we  are  very  glad  to  see  so  many  of  you  here  present 

*Any  one,  from,  this  account,  can  at  any  time  easily  ascertain  the  site  of  the  old 
English  fort,  Miami,  of  which  the  reader  is  already  quite  familiar. 

t"  Western  Annals,"  pages  184  and  185. 


80  HlSTOltY    OF   FOBT    WAYNE. 

at  your  ancient  council-lire,  wliich  has  been  neglected  for  some 
time  past;  siu« -c  (hen,  high  winds  have  blown,  and  raised  heavy 
clouds  over  your  country.  I  now,  by  this  belt,  rekindle  your  an- 
cient fire,  and  throw  llry  wood  upon  it,  that  the  blaze  may  ascend 
to  heaven,  so  that  all  nations  may  see  it,  arid  know  that  you  live  in 
peace  and  tranquility  with  your  fathers  the  English. 

"By  this  belt  I  disperse  all  the  black  clouds  from  over  your 
heads,  that  the  sun  may  shine  clear  on  your  women  and  children, 
that  those  unborn  may  enjoy  the  blessings  of  this  general  peace, 
now  so  happily  settled  between  your  fathers  the  English  and  you, 
and  all  your  younger  brethren  to  the  sun-setting. 

"  Children,  by  this  belt  I  gather  up  all  the  bones  of  your  de- 
ceased friends,  and  bury  them  deep  in  the  ground,  that  the  buds 
and  sweet  flowers  of  the  earth  may  grow  over  them,  that  we  may 
not  see  them  any  more. 

"  Children,  with  this  belt  [  take  the  hatchet  'out  of  your  hands, 
and  pluck  up  a  large  tree,  aud  bury  it  deep,  so  that  it  may  never 
be  found  any  more ;  and  I  plant  the  tree  of  peace,  which  all  our 
children  may  sit  under,  and  smoke  in  peace  with  their  fathers. 

"  Children,  we  have  made  a  road  from  the  sunrising  to  the  sun- 
setting.  I  desire  that  you  will  preserve  that  road  good  and  pleas- 
ant to  travel  upon,  that  we  may  all  share  the  blessing 'of  this 
happy  union." 

Closing  this  great  peace-gathering  about  the  last  of  September, 
1705.  and  after  exacting  a  promise  from  Pontiac  that  he  would 
visit  Oswego  in  the  spring,  and,  in  behalf  of  all  the  tribes  he  had 
BO  recently  led  against  the  English,  conclude  a  treaty  of  peace  and 
amity  witli  Sir  William  Johnson,  Croghan  left  the  scene  of  his  suc- 
cessful labors,  and  wended  his  way  towards  Niagara. 

About  the  period  of  the  first  snow,  the  42d  regiment  of  High- 
landers, a  hundred  strong,  having  moved  down  the  Ohio,  from  Fort 
Pitt,  commanded  by  Capt.  Sterling,  arrived  at  Fort  Chartres.  Tho 
Jkur  de  Us  of  France  was  soon  lowered ;  and,  in  its  stead,  tho  Eng- 
lish planted  their  standard  and  forever  destroyed  the  French 
power  in  America— holding,  as  the  English  then  did,  and  for 
many  years  subsequent,  all  tho  western  posts,  from  Canada  to  the 
Illinois — which  left  the  Indians  also  with  but  little  to  hope  for. 

\Vlu-n  spring  came,  Pontiac,  true  to  his  word,  with  his  canoe, 
left  his  old  home  on  the  Mauinee,  for  Oswego,  whither  he  soon  ar- 
rived, and  where  he  made  a  great  speech,  and  "  sealed  his  submis- 
sion to  tho  English"  fo rover. 

His  canoe  ladon  with  the  presents  he  had  received  at  the  groat 
council  of  Oswego,  he  rowed  rapidly  toward  the  Maumee  again, 
ivhcre  he  is  said  to  have  spent  the  following  winter,  living  "in  the 
forest  with  his  wives  and  children,  and  hunting  like  Mi-Ordinary 
warrior."  In  the  spring  of  1767,  considerable  discontent  bejra'n 
again  to  manifest  itself  among  the  tribes  "from  the  lakes  to  the 
Potomac,"  and  from  which  eventually  came  the  spilling  of  much 


DEATH  OF  POKTIAC,  S7 

blood,  as  at  former  periods,  along  the  frontier.  The  Indians  had 
been  disturbed  in  the  possession  of  their  lands,  and  had  begun  an- 
other terrible  resentment.  Pontiac  had  now  long  strangely  kept 
out  of  the  way.  "Whether  lie  had  been  party  to  the  agitation  along 
the  border  or  not,  was  not  known  ;  but  many  had  their  suspicions. 
.For  two  years  subsequent  to  this  period,  Pontiae  seems  to  have 
.kept  so  close,  some  where,  that  lew,  if  any,  but  his  own  imme- 
diate friends,  perhaps,  knew  or  heard  of  his  whereabouts.  In  the 
mouth  of  April,*  17(5 1--1,  however,  he  seems  again  to  have  visited 
the  Illinois,  and  though  not  knowing  that  he  had  anything  special 
in  view,  yet  the  English  in  that  region  were  excited  by  iiis  move- 
ments. From  this  point,  lie  soon  after  itaried  for  the  (then)  'French 
.settlement  of  St.  Louis,  (Mo.),  where  lie  was  soon  after  murdered . 

The  account  of  his  deatii,  aw  derived  from  the  most  reliable 
sources,  is.  that  he  was  killed  by  an  Illinois  Indian,  of  the  Kask::-- 
kia  tribe ;  that  ho  had  been  to  ;i  i'casi  with  some  of  the  French 
Creoles  of  Cahokia,  opposite  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
and  became  drunk.  Leaving  the  place  of  carousal,  and  entering 
an  adjacent  forest,  the  murderer  stole  quickly  upon  him  and  dis- 
patched him  with  his  tomahawk,  striking  him  on  the  head;  that 
the  assassin  had  been  instigated  to  the  act  by  an  Englishman  of 
the  name  of  Williamson,  who  had  agreed  to  give  him  ;;  barrel  of 
whisky,  with  a  promise  of  something  besides,  if  he  would  kill  the 
Ottawa  chieftain,  which  he  readily  accepted.  Says  Gotiin's  ac- 
count: 

"  From  Miami  (here)  Pontiac  went  to  Fort  Chartres,  on  the  Illi- 
nois. In  a  few  years,  the  English,  who  had  possession  of  the  for,, 
procured 'an  Indian  of  the  Peoria  nation  to  kill  him.  The  news 
spread  like  lightning  through  the  country.  The  Indians  assembled 
iu  great  numbers,  attacked  and  destroyed  all  the  Peorins,  except 
about  thirty  families,  which  were  received  into  the  fort/'.  And 
the  death  of  Pontiac  was  revenged.  His  spirir  could  rest  in  pefccc. 
Such  was  Indian  usage.  And  thus  closed  the  career  of  one  of  Na- 
ture's most  singular  and  resolute  types  of  aboriginal  character;  of 
whom  Groghan  wrote  in  his  journal  and  sent  to  Gen.  Gage  in  1705: 
"Pontiac.  is  a  shrewd,  sensible  Indian,  of  few  words,  and  com- 
mands more  respect  among  his  own  nation  than  any  Indian- 1 
oversaw  could  do  amon^  his  own  tribe/' 

'•it  was  iu  this  year  that  a  dofinitive  cession  of  the  province  of  Louisiana. — ^v!li(.•!^ 
had  formerly  extended  over  the  entire  territory  now  known  as  the  State  of  Indiana, — 
wait  terminated  (because  of  the  jjreat  los*;js  sustained  at  various  times  in  its  mainten- 
ance by  the  French  government)  between  France  and  Spain,  the  latter  becoming, — by 
pec-ret  treaty,  made  some  years  prior,  (17G-I)  between  Louis  14th,  and  the  King  of 
Spain, — sole  possessor  of  the  province.  And  the  surrender  of  St.  Louis,  by  St.  Antte., 
vit.h  the  En^lKh  ahvady  in  '.cv^^ion  ol'  all  Louisiana  east  of  the  Mississippi,  ciu&d 
1'orever  the  dominion  of  the  French  in  the  Xew  World. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

f  A  sound  like  a  sound  of  thunder  rolled, 

And  the  heart  of  a  nation  stirred — 
For  the  bell  of  Freedom  at  midnight  tolled, 
Through  a  mighty  land  was  heard, 

It  was  heard  by  the  fettered  and  the  brave — 
It  was  heard  in  the  cottage,  and  in  the  hall — 
And  its  chime  jrave  a  glorious  siimmons  to  all." 

WM.  Ross  WALLACE. 

The  struggle  for  Independence— Causes  that  led  to  the  Revolution — The  men  of  '76— 
Triumph  over  old  conditions — Final  treaty  of  peace — Foreshadowing  of  former 
ages  realized  in  the  founding  of  the  New  Republic. 


S  the  great  earth  upon  which  we  live  swings  with  a  lighter 
fair  in  its  orbit  as  the  many  inharmonious  conditions  and  the 
>  great  forests  upon  its  surface  are  cleared  away  and  reduced 
to  ashes  by  the  necessities  of  improvement,  so  the  advancing 
tide  of  human  civilization  brings  to  the  circumambient  air  of 
human  relations  a  less  rarefied  and  more  brilliant  atmosphere  of 
intellectual  strength  and  love  of  Freedom. 

But  the  great  soul  of  nature  is  never  still — never  ceases  to  act, 
to  push  forward,  as  with  some  imponderable  impulse,  to  work  out 
and  develop  a  great  and  beautiful  Future ;  and  scarcely  had  the 
French  and  Indian  war  of  1759  and  1760  ceased  its  action,  when 
the  colonial  settlements  of  the  New  World  began  to  exhibit  a 
spirit  of  dissatisfaction,  produced  by  the  acts  of  the  English  par- 
Lament,  and  King,  that  foreshadowed  in  the  (then)  not  far  distant 
future  a  momentous  and  long-protracted  struggle ;  and  the  heroic 
James  Otis,  then  advocate-general  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts, 
replying  to  Gridley,  advocate  for  the  crown,  readily  gave  new 
strength  and  vigor  to  the  foreshadowing.  Said  he,  with  great  em- 
phasis, on  the  occasion  in  question :  "  To  my  dying  day,  I  will  op- 
pose, with  all  the  power  and  faculties  God  has  given  me,  all  such 
instruments  (Writs  of  Assistance  for  the  collection  of  revenue  from 
the  colonists)  of  slavery  on  one  hand,  and  villainy  on  the  other." 
The  same  formidable  power,  with  colonial  aid,  that  had  crushed 


BEGINNING  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  89 

and  despoiled  the  French  in  Canada,  and,  for  a  time,  mainly  sub- 
dued the  Indians  of  the  northwest,  had  now  (1761)  begun  to  pre- 
sent a  rigorous  front  towards  the  colonists ;  and  though  this  point, 
a  few  years  subsequent  to  the  formidable  effort  of  Pontiac,  against 
the  English,  had  remained  in  comparative  quiet,  in  so  far,  at  least, 
as  the  historic  accounts  run,  yet,  as  step  by  step  the  struggle  for 
Independence  continued,  and  at  length  the  strengthened  voice  of 
civilization  on  the  new  continent,  echoing  along  the  ridges  of  the 
Alleghanies  and  through  the  massive  gloom  of  forest  towards  the 
setting  sun,  startling  the  little  English  garrisons  at  Detroit  and 
other  points  into  momentary  activity,  and  awakening  again  the 
aboriginal  tribes  to  a  new  consideration  of  their  future,  this  again 
readily  became  a  point  of  the  greatest  importance  in  both  a  civil 
and  military  point  of  view ;  and  dearly  was  it  bought  by  the  efforts 
of  the  American  army,  as  will  be  seen  in  subsequent  pages. 

The  first  struggle  on  the  new  continent  had  readily  scattered  the 
seed  that  was  to  bring  forth  a  second,  a  third,  and  a  fourth  revolu- 
tion. And,  as  the  accelerated  action  of  the  globe  becomes  less  com- 
motionate  and  easier  in  its  rotative  movement,  as  the  refining  pro- 
cess of  its  surface  advances,  and  its  internal  heat  and  compressed  air 
are  reduced  and  evolved  through  volcanic  eruptions,  earthquakes, 
and  fissury  expansion,  so  the  new  colonial  settlements  were  des- 
tined only  to  enjoy  a  wider  range  of  social  and  governmental  Free- 
dom in  proportion  as  they  removed  the  barriers  of  the  forest,  and 
became  earnest,  efficient,  and  resolute  in  action  against  tho  further 
aggression  and  power  of  the  British  Crown  on  the  new  continent ; 
and,  as  this  gerrn  of  glorious  determination  and  advancement  in 
the  establishment  of  free  institutions  seemed  only  destined  to  ex- 
pand to  a  fair  expression  of  vital  force  and  activity  through  the  ag- 
gressive movements  of  the  English  Government;  so  the  latter  be- 
gan to  exercise  an  undue  control  over  the  colonies  of  the  New 
World,  by  a  gradual  disturbance,  in  various  ways,  of  their  colonial 
relations — at  one  time  interfering  with  the  charter  of  Connecticut ; 
at  another,  levying  heavy  duties  upon  certain  articles  of  importa- 
tion into  America ;  and  the  adoption,  soon  after,  of  strenuous  meas- 
ures for  the  collection  thereof — insisting  that  the  colonists  should 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  French  andlndian  war,  upon  the  ground 
that  it  had  been  waged  in  defence  of  the  colonies. 

Intense  discord  and  excitement  rapidly  arose  among  the  colon- 
ists. The  people  gathered  at  different  points.  Declamation  met 
.declamation.  Protest  followed  protest ;  and  the  agitation  was  still 
increased  by  the  passage  of  the  famous  "  Stamp  Act,"  by  the 
English  Parliament  of  1765,  which  imposed  heavy  stamp  duties, 
upon  all  newspapers,  almanacs,  bonds,  notes,  etc..  issued  in  Amer- 
ica. And  again  determination  followed  determination.  Resis- 
tance became  universal  and  uncontrollable.  The  spirit  of  Free- 
dom had  found  a  place  in  every  true  colonial  heart ;  and  resistence, 
even  to  the  sword  and  bayonet,  if  need  be,  became  at  length  a  fixed 


y,j  j  I  ss-ioBY  OF  FOKT  WAYSE. 

ruul  unalterable  determination  throughout  the  colonies.  Patrick 
H-nry,  amid  the  cries  of  "  Treason  ! "  u  Treason  ! ?'  in  tho  House  of 
Burgesses,  in  Virginia,  thrilled  the  masses  with  a  magnetic  fire  of 
determination  that  gave  new  impetus  to  colonial  resentment.  And 
u  treason  1"  *  treason!"  as  the  yellov.-  loaf  of  autumn,  iluttorinu; 
for  a  moment  upon  the  passing  breeze,  falls  gently  to  the  earth, 
was  as  soon  drowned  by  the  eloquent,  voice  of  Henry  ;  and  ll  -ive 
me  liberty,  or  give  me  death  !"  rapidly  arose  upon,  the  tumultuous 
air  of  the  colonial  settlements. 

English  soldiers  soon  making  their  appearance  i#  Boston,  (Sept. 
kJ7,  17H8,)  harsh  treatment  and  imperious  demands  soon  awakened 
resentment.  A  collision  between  the  citizens  and  soldiovis,  in  which 
three  Americans  were  killed,  was  the  result.  Determining  neither 
to  use,  nor  to  pay  tax  upon  tea,  three  ships  laden  with  this  article, 
arriving  in  Boston  harbor,  were  boarded  at  night  by  a  party  ..f 
disguised  Bostonians,  and  the  tea  was  hurled  into  the  water. 

Parliament  still  sternly  demanding  to  be  regarded  in  her  claims, 
and  iinding  it  out  of  the  question  either  to  bribe  or  buy  the  patriotic 
colonists,  soon  began  more  strenuous  measures  of  control.  The 
colonists  rapidly  formed  into  bodies  of  militia.  "  Minute  nicu.:' 
ready  for  action  at  a  moment's  notice,  sprang  up  at  every  hand. 
The  English  Parliament  had  declared  Massachusetts  to  be  in  a 
state  of  rebellion,  and  more  troops  came  o.ver.  "  Boston  Neck" 
wits  fortified  by  the  English,  and  the  Patriots,  concealing  their  can- 
nons in  loads  of  manure,  and  their  ammunition,  and  cartridges  in 
market  baskets  and  caudle-boxes,  gradually  passed  the  guards  to 
a  point  beyond  Boston,  unmolested.  Concord,  N.  II.,  became  a 
prominent  point,  whither  the  patriots  gathered  their  stores <  and 
ammunition,  etc.  General  Gage,  then  commanding  the  English 
forces,  thought  to  route  the  colonists  from  this  point,  and  one  night 
secretly  d^patchcd  au  army  of  eight  hundred  men.  towards  Con- 
cord for  the  purpose.  The  Patriots  heard  of  their  coming.  The 
bells  of  the  place  were  rung;  guns  were  fired,  and  tho  minute  men 
were  in  arms.  u  Disperse,  ye  rebels,"  cried  Gage,  confronting  the 
colonists  and  discharging  his  horse-pistols.  The  English  soldiery 
followed  with  a  discharge  of  musketry.  A  number  fell  on  the 
colonial  side,  and,  giving  way,  the  British  passed  on  to  Concord. 
A  few  hours  later,  the  English,  starting  on  their  return  to  Boston, 
the  colonists  having  gathered  in  large  numbers  from  diii'ercnt  points, 
and  posted  themselves  behind  barns,  trees,  houses,  and  fences, 
opened  a  terrible  fire  upon  them  from  every  side,  and  before  reach- 
ing Boston,  the  former  were  well-nigh  destroyed. 

The  first  blood  was  now  spilled,  and  the  account  of  the  battle  of 
Lexiugton  aroused,  at  every  point,  the  whole  colonial  population 
of  America.  "  The  farmer  left  his  plow,  and  the  mechanic  his 
work-shop.  Even  old  men  and  boys,"  says  the  records,  "hastened 
to  arm^ themselves" — tho  wife  girding  "the  sword  about  her  hus- 
band ; :'  the  mother  blessing  her  son,  and  bidding  him  "  go  strike 


THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  Ul 

a  blow  for  his  country."'  The  colonists  were  ripe  for  the  struggle.  A 
new  era  was  to  dawn  upon  the  world ;  and  Freedom  was  destined  to 
triumph. 

As  demand  calls  for  supply;  as  necessities  superinduce  and  de- 
velopp  the  requisites  of  any  great  movement,  so  there  soon  ap- 
peared upon  the  colonial  stage  a  Franklin,  a  Washington,  a  Jay, 
a  Jefterson,  a  Hancock,  an  Adams,  a  Monroe,  a  Randolph,  a 
Thompson,  a  Lee,  an  Otis,  a  Wayne,  a  Henry,  a  Hamilton,  a  Knox, 
a  Clinton,  a  Mifilin,  a  Pickens,  a  Morgan,  a  Green,  a  Morris,  a  Lin- 
coln, a  Marion,  a  Sumpter.  a  Tarleton,  a  Snllivan,  a  Jones,  a  Hop- 
kins, a  Kutledge,  a  Gates,  a  Putnam,  a  Trmn bull,  a  Wm.  Washing- 
ton, a  Bainbridge,  a  Schuylcr,  a  Warren,  <>tc. 

Ticonderoga,  had  now,  (May  10th,  1705,)  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  Americans;  the  Continental  Congress,  for  the  second  time, 
was  in  session  at  Philadelphia;  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  became  com- 
mander-in-cliief  of  the  colonial  army;  great  quantities  of  paper 
currency  were  issued ;  the  great  battle  of  Banker  Hill  was  soon 
fought;  and  the  war  for  American  Independence  had  begun  with 
an  earnestness  nnd  determination  only  equalled  by  the  glorious 
spirit  that  gave  birth  and  impetus  to  the  struggle. 

At  length  the  4th  of  July,  1770,  came.  The  Continental  Con- 
gress hacf  received,  considered,  and,  on  this  hallowed  and  ever- 
memorable  day,  adopted  a  DECLARATION  OF  Is  DEPENDENCE.  The 
great  old  bell  of  Independence  Hall  soon  rang  out  upon  the  still 
air  the  glorious  consummation;  and  every  where  the  heart  of  the 
colonist  thrilled  with  joy.  In  the  niidst  of  discord,  and  under 
heavy  travail,  the  new  continent  had  given  birth  to  a  rare  and 
beautiful  child  of  Freedom  and  Progress,  destined  to  live  and  be- 
come more  glorious,  happy,  free,  and  beautiful  as  time  rolled  on. 

As  before  this  eventful  and  happy  hour, — with  now  a  victory; 
now  retreat  and  momentary  defeat ;  now  suffering  with  cold  and 
hunger ;  annon  encountering  the  savages  of  the  forest,  pushed  on  by 
British  influence,  for  seven  years  the  war  continued  ;  during  which 
period,  the  American  forces  had  been  joined  by  many  brave  and 
patriotic  men  from  the  OJd  World,  whose  souls  had  caught  the 
spirit  of  the  hour,  and  whose  great  love  of  Freedom  brought  them 
to  the  'rescue  of  the  struggling  cause  on  the  new  continent;  amoug 
whom  were  Lafayette,  Kosciusko,  De  Kalb,  Pulaski,  Baron  Steu- 
ben,  and  France  herself,  but  a  few  years  before  defeated  by  the 
British  in  Canada,  and  at  other  points,  also  became  an  ally  of  the 
Americans,  and  rendered  valuable  aid  in  the  cause  of  Freedom. 

Effecting  a  final  treaty  of  peace  with  the  British  September  3, 
1788 ;  and  from  that  time  forward  rapidly  gaining  strength  and 
recovering  from  the  great  pressure  so  long  hanging  over  them, 
on  the  4th  of  March  the  old  Continental  Congress  ceased  to  be,  and 
the  main  elements  of  the  present  FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION,  under 
which  our  Republic  has  for  so  many  years  existed,  and,  under  every 
adversity,  maintained  its  primitive  spirit  of  independence,  became 


02  HISTOKY  OF  FOK.T  WAYNJC. 

the  organic  basis  of  the  new  governmental  superstructure  of 
America.  A  glorious  era  in  the  World's  History  had  now  begun. 

A  month  and  two  days  later,  (April  6th,  1789,)  by  the  unani- 
mous voice  of  the  electors,  the  surveyor,  the  hero,  and  the  sol- 
dier; the  statesman  and  the  philanthropist;  the  lover  of  Truth  and 
Goodness ;  the  successful  leader  of  the  colonial  army,  and  the  man 
of  Progress  in  Governmental  Freedom  "  and  the  pursuit  of  HAPPI- 
NESS"— GEOBGE  WASHINGTON,  of  Virginia,  became  first  President, 
and  the  good  and  patriotic  JOHN  ADAMS,  of  Massachusetts,  first 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

The  beautiful  germ  of  the  Ideal  Republic  of  Plato,  cast  upon 
the  soil  of  the  World's  necessities  more  than  two  thousand  years 
before ;  the  great  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  involv- 
ing at  once  "  the  inalienable  rights  of  man  "  and  the  fundamental 
truths  and  necessities  of  continued  progression  in  all  that  pertained 
to  his  welfare  in  mental  and  physical  growth,  as  the  only  safe  and 
sure  road  to  ultimate  happiness  and  good  government,  seen, 
acknowledged,  and  declared  years  prior  to  the  departure  of  Col- 
umbus on  his  great  voyage  of  discovery ;  and  which  "  had  shaken 
thrones  and  overturned  dynasties  "  long  before  the  regicidal  fate  of 
Charles  the  First,  had  now,  within  the  wild  domain  of  the  New 
World,  begun  to  bear  their  first  fruits,  and  to  give  promise  of  a 
contjjiued  and  still  more  glorious  fruitage  in  tfye  yearp  to  come. 


CHAPTER  IX, 


"  Wliere  are  the  hardy  yeomen 
Who  battled  for  this  land, 
And  trode  these  hoar  old  forests, 
A  brave  and  gallant  bard  ? 

****** 

They  knew  no  dread  of  danger, 

When  rose  the  Indian's  yell ; 
Eight  gallantly  they  struggled, 

Right  gallantly  they  fell." — CHARLES  A. 


Peaceful  attitude  of  affairs  at  the  close  of  the  great  council  at  Oswega — A  desire  for 
more  room — Movements  of  small  parties  westward — How  they  lived — Their  dis- 
like of  extensive  settlements — The  English  colonists — Habite  and  vicissitudes  of 
the  early  pioneers— Their  appearance,  houses,  furniture,  etc. — "Tomahawk  rights" 
— The  cabins  often  too  "  cluss " — Dangers  and  hardships — Efforts  of  Patrick 
Henry — Appointment  of  George  Rogers  CJark — His  movement  down  the  Ohio — 
Reaches  Louisville,  Ky. — Starts  forliaskaskia — Takes  the  place  by  storm — The 
"Long  Knives" — The  stratagem — Fright  of  the  villagers — Father  Gibault  and 
others  visit  Clark — The  inhabitants  permitted  to  attend  church — Expect  to  be 
separated — Revisit  of  Father  Gibault  and  patty — Clark's  response — Joy  ef  the 
villagers — An  expedition  against  Cahokia — Capture  of  that  place  and  Vincennes 
— Appointments  l>y  Clark — "Big  Door" — A  "talk" — Big  Door  declares  for  the 
Long  Knives — Clark  organizes  a  company  of  French — Moves  against  the  Indians 
— Brings  them  to  terms — His  movements  reach  the  English  at  Detroit — Hamilton, 
the  English  Governor,  moves  against  Vincennes,  with  a  view  to  re-capture  the 
lost  posts — Vincennes  retaken  by  the  British — Clark  hears  of  the  event,  and  soon 
captures  the  fort  again — Hamilton  and  others  sent  to  Virginia — No  further 
troubles  from  the  English — La  Balme's  expedition  to  this  point — Flight  ol  the  In- 
dians— La  Balme  withdraws — Pursued  by  the  Indians,  under  Little  Turtle,  and 
the  whole  party  destroyed. 

i  T  THE  CLOSE  of  the  great  treaty  of  Sir  William  Johnson 
with  the  different  tribes  of  the  north-west,  at  Oswego,  in  the 
Cg-    spring  of  1766,  at  which  Pontiac  himself  appeared  and  con- 
$£?  eluded  a  final  reconciliation  in  behalf  of  all  the  tribes  formerly 
banded  under  his  leadership,  it  was  generally  thought  by  the 
colonists  and  those  settlements  along  the  Alleghenies  and  at  other 
points  westward,  that  further  danger  from  the  tribes  was  at  an  end. 
The  English  flag  was  now  waving  over  all  the  posts  from  Niagara 
to  the  Mississippi ;   and  while  the  settlements  along  the  borders* 
and  beyond  were  yet  sparse  and  scattering,  there  arose  a  strong 

*  Which,  at  thai  period,  extended  but  little  westward  of  the  Alleghany  mountains^ 


94  HISTORY  OF  FORT  "WAYNE. 

desire  for  more  room  among  the  settlors,  and  hundreds  of  resolute 
men  were  soon  on  the  niarcli  seeking  new  homes  in  thewikienfeM 
of  the  west.  After  so  much  warfare,  the  peaceful  quietudes  of  the 
border  and  more  easterly  settlements  were  more  than  they  could 
abide,  and  the  wild  scenes  of  the  distant  Ibrest  afforded  a  lair  in- 
terchange for  the  former  excitement  and  vicissitudes  of  war. 

:iii>g  out  in  small  parties,  the  adventurous  settlers  would 
move  we*tward  far  intcriorward,  then  separating,  they  would  trav- 
erse  large  extents  of  country,  and  at  length,  each  selecting  a  site 
lor  hiir^elf,  would  settle  down  in  the  primeval  forest,  far  from  any 
:;es  of  civilization  or  civilized  associates,  and  living  much  like 
the  Indians,  they  soon  became  as  reckless  and  indifferent  as  the' 
most  savage  of  the  red  men  around  them.  It  is  related  of  those 
early  times  that  one  of  those  pioneer  settlers  left  his  clearing  and 
started  for  the  forests  of  the  west,  for  tho  reason  that  another  had 
settled  so  near  to  him  that  he  could  hear  the  report  of  his  rifle  ; 
while  yet  another,  seeing  from  the  valley  of  his  location,  smoke 
curling  in  the  distance,  is  said  to  have  gone  fifteen  miles  to  dis- 
cover its  emanation,  and  finding  new-comers  there,  "  quit  the  coun- 
try in  disgust."  More  "  elbow-room  "  was  wanted.  Such  were  at 
l«-ast  some  of  the  extreme  expressions  of  the  time. 

The  English  co-lonists  were  hardy,  daring,  self-reliant  men.-  Tin-1 
like  former  periods  in  the  old  world,  when  one  nation  was  often 
suddenly  overrun  by  another,  both  in  their  military  and  migratory 
movements,  they  pushed  gradually  forward;  and  while  many-  were 
destroyed,  they  yer,  on  the  one  hand,  succeeded  in  reducing  the 
Indians  to  a  state  of  submission,  through  fear  of  extermination, 
while,  on  the  other,  the  pioneer, relying  entirely  on  his  own  bravery 
and  prowe>*T  with  what  aid  each  could  render  the  other,  in  times 
of  attack  upon  the  settlements,'  .&c.,  long  held  possession  of  a  large 
region  of  country,  and  thus  aided  in  laying  the  basic  structure  of 
future  greatness.  Long  accustomed  to  the  exposure  arid  the  vicis- 
situdes of  a  life  on  the  frontier  and  in  the  wilderness,  k  is  not.  sur- 
prising that  these  hardy  men  became  daring  and  implacable,- often 
restless  for  the  achievement  of  some  momentary  victory  or  re- 
venge. 

Adventurous  men  now  soon  began  to  crowd  upon  the  Indians ;  their 
lands  were  being  overrun  by  the  colonists;  and  while  the  Indians 
were  disposed  to  present,  for  the  most  part,  a  friendly  front  towards 
the  British,  they  yet  ,-ut  down  the  settlers,  and,  thiough  the  Eng- 
lish, readily  made  war  upon  the  colonial  settlements  during  the 
Devolution.  Born  and  bred  ;nnid  scenes  of  hardship,  these  early 
]'»"••  ro  naturally  hardy  and  active,  often  caring  but  little 

ilie  common  comforts  of  life  or  the  roughest  weather.  "Wild 
M  untamed  nature,  they  could  scream  with  the  panther,  howl  with 
the  wolf,  whoop  with  the  Indian,  and  fight  all  creation."  It  is  re- 
luted  of  one  of  these  strangely  rough  adventurers  in  the  history  of 
the  v,-esr,  ih-'t,  having  "  been  tomahawked,  find  his  scalp  started, 


EARLY  PIONEERS  —  THEIR  HABITS.  APPEARANCE,  ETC.         9$ 

lie  might  yet  be  killed  sometime,  as  the  lightning  had  tried  him  on 
once,  and  would  have  done  the  business  up  for  him,  if  he  hadn't 
dodged."  Constantly  associating  with  the  Indians,  many  of  them 
riot  only  became  deini-savage  in  appearance,  but  "  frequently  as- 
sumed the  whole  savage  character." 

A  little  description  of  their  appearance,  ordinary  costumes,  hab- 
its of  life,  houses,  etc.,  will  be  of  interest  to  the  present  generation. 
A  coonskin  cap,  willi  the  tail  dangling  at  the  back  of  the  neck, 
and  the  snout  droopi'ng  upon  the  forehead  ;  long  buckskin  loggins, 
revved  with  a  wide,  fringed  welt,  down  the  outside  of  the  legs  ;  a 
long,  narrow  strip  of  coarse  cloth,  passing  around  the  hips  and  be- 
tw(*on  liie  thighs,  was  brought  up  before  and  behind  under  the 
belt,  and  hung  down  flapping  as  they  walked;  a  loose  deerskin 
i'rOck,  open  in  front,  'and  lapping  once  and  a  half  round  the  body, 
was  belted  at  the  middle,  forming  convenient  wallets  on  each  side 
for  chunks  of  hoecake,  tow,  jerked  venison,  screw-driver,  and 
other  fixings  ;  and  a  pair  of  Indian  moccasins  completed  the  primi- 
tive hunter's  most  unique  apparel.  Over  the  whole  was  slung  i 
ballet-pouch  and  powder-horn.  From  behind  the  left  hip  dangled 
M  scalping-knife  ;  from  the  right  protruded  the  handle  of  a  hatchet; 
both  weapons  stuck  in  leathern  cases.  Every  hunter  carried  an 
awl,  a  roll  ot  buckshin,  and  strings  of  hide,  called  "  whangs,"  for 
thread.  In  the  winter  loose  deer-htvir  was  stuffed  into  the  mocca- 
sins to  keep  the  feet  warm.  The  pioneers  lived  in  rude  log-houses, 
covered,  generally,  with  pieces  of  timber,  about  three  feet  in  length 
and  six  inches  in  width,  called  "  shakes,"  and  laid  over  the  roof 
instead  ofiftitigles.  They  had  neither  na-ils,  glass,  saws,  nor  brick. 
The  iicn  srs  luid  hugt3  slab  doors,  pinned  together  with  wooden 
pins.  The  light  came  down  the  chimney,  or  through  a,  hole  in  the 
logs,  coveivd  with  a  greased  cloth.  A  scraggy  hemlock  sap- 
ling, the  knots  left  a  fcot  long,  served  for  a  stairway  to  the  upper 
story.  Their  furniture  consisted  of  tamarack  bedsteads,  framed 
into  the  walls,  and  a  lew  shelves  supported  on  long  wooden  piny; 
sometimes  a  chair  or  two,  but  more  often,  a  piece  split  off  a  tree, 
;;nd  so  trimmed,  that  the  branches  served  for  legs.  Their  utensils 
were  very  simple  ;  generally  nothing  but  a  skillet,  which  served 
forsaking,  boiling,  roasting,  washing  dishes,  making  mush,  scald- 
ing turkeys,  cooking  sassafras  tea,  and  making  soap.  A  Johny- 
cake  board,  instead  of  a  dripping-pan,  hung  on  a  peg  in  every 
house.  The  corn  was  cracked  into  s  coarse  meal,  by  pounding  it 
in  a  wooden  mortar.  As  soon  as  swine  could  be  kept  away  from 
the  bears,  or,  rather,  the  bears  away  from  them,  the  pioneers  in- 
dulged in  a  dish  of  pork  and  corn,  boiled  together,  and  known 
them  as  "hog  and  hominy/'  Fried  pork  they  called  "  Old 


Quito  the  opposite  of  the   early   French  settlers,  who   formed 
themselves  into  small  communities,  and  tended  their  fields  in  coni- 

••  Stales  and  TV.-ritorir?  of  tlio  Givst.  West,''  r-agrs  H'2.  1  !3,  144,  1  if>. 


96  HISTORY  OF  FORT    WAYNE. 

mon, . the  yankee  pioueer  "went  the  whole  length  for  individual 
property,"  each  settler  claiming  for  himself  three  hundred  acres  of 
land,  and  the  privilege  of  taking  a  thousand  more,  contiguous  to 
his  clearing ;  each  running  out  his  own  lines  for  himself,  chipping 
the  bark  off  the  trees,  and  cutting  his  name  in  the  wood  ;  which 
claims,  thus  loosely  asserted,  were  then  called  "  tomahawk  rights," 
and  were  readily  regarded  by  each  emigrant.  The  first  work  that 
claimed  the  attention  of  the  settler  was  that  of  felling  the  trees 
about  him  in  order  to  make  an  opening  and  to  prepare  his  house- 
logs,  for  the  erection  of  a  cabin,  "  sleeping,  meanwhile,  under  a 
bark  cover,  raised  on  crotches,  or  under  a  tree."  A  story  is  related 
of  one  of  these  pioneers,  that,  after  the  completion  of  his  cabin, 
"  he  could  hardly  stomach  it."  The  logs  were  unchinked,  the  door- 
way open,  the  chimney  gaping  widely  above  him,  but  he  com- 
plained that  the  air  was  yet  too  "  cluss,"  and  that  he  was  compelled 
to  sleep  outside  for  a  night  or  so  in  order  "  to  get  used  to  it." 

Such,  runs  the  record,  "  were  the  people,  and  such  their  modes 
ofliving,  that  began  to  spread  themselves  throughout  the  west, 
between  the  close  of  Pontiac's  war  and  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolution.  Then,  when  that  struggle  came  on,  new  difficulties 
gathered  thickly  around  the  scattered  settlements.  The  reduction 
of  the  wilderness  was  a  huge  task  of  itself,  even  with  every  encour- 
agement, and  without  opposition  of  any  sort.  But  the  Anglo  Saxon 
seemed  to  have  had  everything  arrayed  against  him.  Not  only 
the  forest,  and  the  wild  beasts,  and  untold  privations,  stood  in  the 
way  of  his  progress ,  but  the  French  first  tried  to  crowd  him  out ; 
then  the  Indians  sought  to  kill  him ;  and,  lastly,  the  British  turned 
against  their  own  flesh  and  blood,  and  bribed  the  savages  to  take 
his  life.  While  the  armies  of  England  were  roving  over  and  wast- 
ing the  whole  Atlantic  coast,  from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia,  the 
British  Governor  at  Detroit,  and  his  agents  at  the  forts  on  the  Wa- 
bash,  and  Maumee  rivers,  (including  the  fort  at  this  point,)  and  at 
Kaskaskia,  were  busily  engaged  in  inciting  the  Indians  to  deeds  of 
rapine  and  murder  on  the  western  frontier.  The  teirible  scenes  of 
the  old  French  war,  and  of  Pontiac's  war,  were  often  re-enacted. 
The  pioneers,  however,  were  a  different  class  of  men  from  those 
who  had  previously  suffered  in  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  and 
who  frequently  precipitately  fled  from  their  burning  dwellings. 
There  was  an  iron  will  and  temper  in  these  later  settlers  that  pre- 
sented a  front  far  different  from  those  who,  some  years  before,  had 
fled  before  the  combined  forces  of  the  savages  and  French.  Not 
waiting  to  be  smoked  or  burnt  out,  or  have  their  skulls  opened  with 
the  tomahawk ;  their  throats  cut  or  scalps  taken,  the  yankee  pio- 
neers met  their  assailants  and  took  a  ready  hand  in  the  game  of 
fight ;  and  no  sooner  was  it  understood  that  the  British  were  en- 
gaged in  inciting  the  Indians  against  the  American  settlers,  than  it 
was  resolved  to  push  the  war  into  the  very  forest  itself — to  the  very 
threshold  of  the  enemy.  Patrick  Henry,  then  Governor  of  Yir- 


MOVEMENTS  OF  GEORGE  ROGERS  CLARK.  97 

ginia,  soon  snuffed  the  air  of  the  pioneer  settlements.  He  saw  the 
situation.  His  soul  arose  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  was  among 
ithe  first  to  propose  a  plan  of  relief  for  these  sufferers  of  the  forest. 
On  the  2d  of  January,  1778,  lie  issued  instructions  to  the  farmers,  and 
directed  the  heroic  Lt.-Col.  Geo.  Rogers  Clark,  of  Albermarle  coun- 
ty, Virginia,  to  "  proceed  with  all  convenient  speed  to  raise  seven 
companies  of  soldiers,  to  consist  of  fifty  men  each,  officered  in  the 
usual  manner,  and  armed  most  properly  for  the  enterprise,  and 
with  that  force  to  attack  the  British  fort  at  Kaskaskia ; "  charging 
him,  most  explicitly,  as  follows  :  "  During  tlio  whole  transaction, 
you  are  to  take  especial  care  to  keep  the  true  destination  of  your 
force  secret; — its  success  depends  on  this."  The  sagacious  fore- 
sight of  Henry  knew  the  man  ibr  thii  work. 

Clark  set  about  the  task  with  a  will.  He  was  born  a  hero,  and 
was  said  to  be  one  of  the  finest  looking  men  of  his  day,  and  would 
readily  "  have  attracted  attention  among  a  thousand."  Conscious 
dignity  is  said  to  have  sat  gracefully  upon  him.  Agreeable  in 
temper;  manly  in  deportment;  intelligent  in  conversation;  largely 
competent  as  an  officer;  vivacious  and  bold  of  spirit,  Col.  Clarke 
was  the  man  for  the  occasion. 

His  captains  having  reached  Fort  Pitt  in  the  month  of  June,* 
with  less  than  six  lines,  in  companies,  with  boats  in  readiness, 
Clark  and  his  little  army  were  soon  aboard,  and  floating  down 
the  Ohio,  whither  they  descended  to  the  falls,  in  view  of  the  pres- 
ent site  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  where  they  encamped,  hoping  to  obtain 
additional  force  from  Kentucky  stations ;  but,  after  some  considera- 
tion touching  these  posts,  deeming  it  unwise  to  reduce  their 
strengh,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  men,  Col.  Clark,  armed 
after  the  Indian  style,  continued  his  course  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Tennessee  river.  Obtaining  important  information  at  this  point 
relative  to  the  British  posts  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  sinking 
his  boats  to  prevent  discovery,  he  started  overland  to  surprise  and 
capture  Kaskaskia.  Each  man  carrying  his  own  baggage  and  ra- 
tions, through  marshes  and  forests,  for  a  distance  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles,  often  knee-deep  in  water,  with  their  apparel 
dirty  and  ragged,  beards  unshaven  for  three  weeks,  presenting  alto- 
gether a  wild,  frightful  aspect,  on  the  evening  of  the  Fourth  of 
July,  1778,  Clark  and  his  men  approached  Kaskaskia,  and  con- 
cealed themselves  about  the  hills  east  of  the  Kaskaskia  river. 
Sending  out  spies  to  watch  the  inhabitants,  soon  after  night- fall,  ho 
was  again  in  motion,  and  took  possession  of  a  house,  in  which  a 
family  resided,  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  town,  which 
contained  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  dwellings.  Finding  boats 
and  canoes^at^this  point,  Clark  divided  his  troops  into  three  par- 

*Tlie  general  inconveniences  of  the  day — the  thick  forests,  etc.,  all  combined  to  render 
everything  in  the  way  of  military  and  pioneer  movements  exceedingly  slow,  and  oi'r«-n 
precarious.  ( 7  ) 


98  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 


—  two  to  cross  the  river,  while  the  other,  with  Clark  himself,- 
moved  forward  and  took  command  of  the  fort. 

The  Indians  and  French  had  long  known  the  New  Englanclcrs  by 
the  appellation  of  "Bostonias,"  and  the  Virginians  by  that  of 
"Long-Knives."  Many  strange  and  fearful  stories  had  long  gone 
forth  among  the  French  of  these  posts  concerning  the  Long-Knives. 
English  officers  visiting  the  Kaskaskians,  had  told  them  that  the 
Long-Knives  would  not  only  take  their  property,  but  were  so  bru- 
tal and  ferocious  that  they  "  would  butcher,  in  the  most  horrible 
manner,  men,  women,  and  children  !  "  —  a  fact  that  had  previously 
reached  the  ear  of  Clark,  and  in  pretension,  at  least,  as  the  most 
salutary  means  of  effecting  his  purpose,  he  determined  to  carry 
out  the  idea  and  take  the  inhabitants  by  storm  ;  and,  accordingly, 
persons  who  could  speak  the  French  language,  were  directed  to 
pass  through  the  streets  of  the  town  and  warn  the  inhabitants  to 
keep  within  their  dwellings,  "  under  penalty  of  being  shot  down  in 
the  streets." 

Crossing  the  river,  the  two  parties  strode  into  the  yet  "  quiet  and 
unsuspecting  village  at  both  extremes,  yelling  in  the  most  furious 
manner,  while  those  who  made  the  proclamation  in  French,  ordered 
the  people  into  their  houses  on  pain  of  instant  death."*  The  word 
was  out.  The  little  village  of  Kaskaskia  was  in  an  uproar.  All 
was  consternation,  fear,  and  trembling;  Men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren ran  for  dear  life,  and  "  Les  long  couteaux  !  —  les  long  cou- 
teaux!"  —  the  Long-Knives  1  —  the  Long-Knives  !  rapidly  arose  upon 
the  theretofore  quiet  air  of  Ka&kaskia,  and  the  inhabitants  precipi- 
tately betook  themselves  to  their  dwellings  to  escape  the  ven- 
geance of  the  intruders.  The  victory  was  short  and  decisive.  No 
Mood  had  been  shed  ;  and  two  hours  later,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
village  had  all  surrendered  and  delivered  up  their  firearms.  All 
consummated  after  the  best  style  of  a  commander  well  adapted  to 
the  occasion,  and  who  knew  just  how  to  carry  out  the  plan  of  ac- 
tion to  the  best  advantage,  —  a  movement  termed  by  the  French 
rouse  de  guerre,  —  the  policy  of  war;  and  to  render  the  movement 
the  more  earnest  and  effectual  in  its  character,  the  French  Gover- 
nor, M.  Roche  blave,  was  taken  prisoner  in  his  own  chamber,  and 
the  night  was  passed  by  the  Virginia  soldiers  in  patroling  the 
streets  with  whoops  and  yells  after  the  manner  of  the  Indians, 
which  gave  the  inhabitants  great  uneasine&s,  but  was  all  turned  to 
the  best  account  by  Col.  Clark.  The  inhabitants  were  now  fully 
pursuaded  that  all  they  had  previously  heard  concerning  the  Long- 
Knives  was  too  true.  Clark  had  even  carried  his  plan  so  far  as  to 
prohibit  intercourse  with  each  other  or  his  men  ;  and  for  five  days 
they  w<-r«>  thus  held  in  suspense  within  their  cottages.  His  troops 
sic.w,  (tin-  liith  day)  being  removed  to  the  outskirts  of  the  village, 
th.-  inhaditants  were  privileged  again  to  walk  the  streets  ;  but  soon 
observing  ihom  conversing  with  each  other,  without  giving  any 
range  therefor,  or  permitting  a  word  to  be  said  in  self-defence, 

1  W«tte»  Annals,"  pages  268,  2Cl). 


THE  KASKASKIANS  CONFER  WITH  CLARK.  99 

Clark  ordered  several  of  the  officers  of  the  place  to  be  put  in  irons. 
Not  that  he  wished  to  be  cruel  or  despotic,  but  that  his  strategetic 
plan  might  prove  more  effectual  and  certain  in  its  operations  ;  and 
the  wild,  reckless,  indifferent,  dirty,  ragged  appearance  and  manner 
of  Clark  and  his  men,  gave  the  greater  awe  and  force  to  his  plan 
of  action. 

At  length,  M.  Gibault,  the  parish  priest,  accompanied  by  "  five 
or  six  elderly  gentlemen,"  by  permission,  called  upon  Col.  Cla"rk. 
All  looking  alike  dirt}',  and  but  little  different  in  their  general  ap- 
pearance, the  deputation  were  greatly  at  a  loss  to  know  with  whom 
to  confer  as  commandant,  and  thus  some  moments  elapsed  before 
they  were  able  to  speak.  But,  very  submissively,  the  priest,  after 
a  short  interval,  began  to  make  knoAvn  their  mission.  He  said  "  the 
inhabitants  expected  to  be  separated,  perhaps  never  to  meet  again, 
and  they  begged  through  him,  as  a  great  favor  from  their  conqueror, 
to  be  permitted  to  assemble  in  the  church,  offer  up  their  prayers  to 
God  for  their  souls,  and  take  leave  of  each  other." 

To  this  Clark,  with  an  air  of  seeming  carelessness,  replied  that "  the 
Americans  did  not  trouble  themselves  about  the  religion  of  others, 
but  left  every  man  to  worship  God  as  he  pleased  ;  "  and  readily 
granted  the  privilege  desired,  but  charged  them'  on  no  account  to 
attempt  to  leave  the  place  ;  and  no  further  conversation  was  per- 
mitted with  the  deputation. 

The  little  church  was  soon  open,  and  the  people  rapidly  crowded 
into  it.  As  though  the  last  opportunity  they  would  have  thus  to 
assemble,  all  mournfully  chanted  their  prayers,  and  bid  each  other 
adieu,  little  presuming  that  they  would  ever  meet  again  in  this 
life  ;  and  so  great  did  they  esteem  the  privilege  granted  them,  that, 
at  the  close  of  the  exercises,  the  priest  and  deputation  repaired 
again  to  the  quarters  of  Clark,  and,  on  behalf  of  the  people  of  the 
village,  graciously  thanked  him  for  the  indulgence  granted  them. 
Begging  leave  to  say  a  word  regarding  their  separation  and  their 
lives,  they  asserted  that  they  knew  nothing  of  the  troubles  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  colonists ;  that  all  that  they  had  done  was  in 
subjection  to  the  English  commandants;  and  that  while  they  were 
willing  to  abide  by  the  fate  of  war  in  the  loss  of  their  property, 
they  prayed  that  they  might  not  be  separated  from  their  families  ; 
and  that "  clothes  and  provisions  might  be  allowed  them,  barely 
sufficient  for  their  present  necessities." 

The  stratagem  was  now  complete.  Fear  had  lapsed  into  resig- 
nation; and  the  spirit  of  hope  in  the  Kaskaskians  had  fallen  below 
the  common  ebb  of  even  partial  security.  The  achievement  of 
Clark's  plan  was  complete,  and,  with  an  air  of  surprise,  he 
abruptly  responded :  "  Do  you  mistake  us  for  savages  ?  I  am  al- 
most certain  that  you  do  from  your  language !  Do  you  think  that 
Americans  intend  to  strip  women  and  children,  or  take  the  bread 
out  of  their  mouths  ? "  u  My  countrymen,"  continued  he,  "  disdain 
to  make  war  upon  helpless  innocence.  It  was  to  prevent  the  hor- 


100  HISTOKT  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

rors  of  Indian  butchery  upon  our  own  wives  and  children  that ,  we 
liavo  taken  arms  and  penetrated  into  this  remote  stronghold1  of 
British  and  Indian  barbarity,  and  not  the  despicable  prospect  of 
plunder.  That  now  the  King  of  France  had  united  his  powerful 
arms  with  that  of  America,  the  war  would  not,  in  all  probability, 
continue  long ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia  were  at  liberty  to 
take  which  side  they  pleased,  without  the  least  danger  to  either 
their  property  or  families.  Nor  would  their  religion  be  any  source 
of  disagreement,  as  all  religions  were  regarded  with  equal  respect 
in  the  eye  of  tho  American  law,  and  that  any  insult  offered  it  would 
bo  immediately  punished.  And  now,  to  prove  iny  sincerity,  ytiii 
will  please  inform  your  fellow-citizens  that  they  are  quite  at  liberty 
to  conduct  themselves  as  usual,  without  the  least  apprehension.  I 
am  now  convinced,  from  what  I  have  learned  since  uiy  arrival 
among  you,  that  you  have  been  misinformed  and  prejudiced 
against  us  by  British  officers ;  and  your  friends  who  are  in  confine- 
ment shall  immediately  be  released." 

The  utterances  of  Clark  were  soon  conveyed  to  the  people;  and 
from  fear  and  apprehension  all  was  changed  to  joy  and  praise.  The 
bells  rang,  and  te  deums  were  sung.  All  thfe  night  long  the  villa- 
gers made  merry.  All  the  privileges  they  could  have  desired  were 
granted  them,  and  Col.  Clark  was  readily  acknowledged  "  the 
commandant  of  the  country." 

Soon  planning  an  expedition  against  Cahokia,  in  which  the  Kss- 
haskians  themselves  took  part,  that  place  was  taken  with  but  little 
trouble  and  no  bloodshed.  Close  upon  the  achievement  of  this 
success,  thfough  the  aid  and  friendship  of  M.  Gibault,  the  priest  of 
KaKkaskia,  Vincennes  was  also  soon  captured,  with  but  little  ef- 
fort, and  the  American  flag  displayed  from  the  garrison.  Capt, 
Williams  was  now  appointed  commandant  at  Kaskaskia ;  Capt., 
Bowman  at  Cahokia,  and  Capt.  Helm  at  Vincennes.*  The  French 
»t  these  points  were  now  all  fast  friends  of  the  Americans,  and  re- 
joiced at  tho  change  that  had  been  made  from  British  to  Ameri- 
can rule ;  and  Clark  proceeded  to  re-organize  the  civil  government 
MI ioug  them,  appointing  influential  and  prominent  French  resi- 
dent* to  tili  the  ollices. 

Atthift  period  a  Piankoshaw  chief,  of  great  influence  among  his 
tribe,  known  as  the  "  Big  Gate,"  or  "  Big  Door,"  and  called  by  the 
Indians  "The  Grand  Door  to  the  Wabash,"  from  the  fact  that,  much 
as  with  the  famous  Tontiac  and  the  Delaware  Prophet,  farther  to 
the  eastward,  with  whom  the  reader  is  already  familiar,  nothing 
could  be  accomplished  by  tho  Indian  confederation  on  the  Wabash 
at  that  period,  without  his  approbation.  Receiving  "a  spirited 
compliment  •»  from  father  Gibault,  (who  was  much  liked  by  the 
Indians,)  through  his  father,  known  as  "  Old  Tobac,"  Big  Door  re- 
turned it,  which  \vas  soon  followed  with  a  "great  talk"  and  a  belt 
of  wampum.  These  Indians,  under  British  influence,  had  previ- 

•Tho  fort,  pt  Yiiicc'tuK*  was  calM  F<.*t  Patrick  Henry,  aftor  its  capture  l»y 


THE  WABASII  INDIANS  DECLARE  FOR  THE  LONG-KNIVES.       101 

d,one  much  u  mischief  to  the  frontier  settlements."  Capt.  Helm 
now"  so,on  sent  a  "  talk "  and  wampum  to  the  "  Big  Door."  The 
chief  was  very  much  elated,  and  sent  a  message  to  Helm,  stating 
that  he  was  glad  to  see  one  of  the  Big  Knife  chiefs  in  town;  that 
Jiere  he  joined  the  English  against  the  Big  Knives,  but  lie  long 
thought  they  "  looked  a  little  gloomy;"  that  he  roust  consult  his 
counselors ;  take  time  to  deliberate,  as  was  the  Indian  custom  ;  and 
hoped  the  Captain  of  the  Big  Knives  would  be  patient.  After  sev- 
eral days,,  Old  Tobac  invited  Captain  Helm  to  a  council;  and  it  is 
said  Tobac  played  quite  a  subordinate  to  his  son  (Big  Door)  in  the 
proceedings  thereof.* 

After  some  display  of  eloquence  in  reference  to  the  sky  having 
been  dark,  arid  the  clouds  now  having  been  brushed  away,  the 
Grand  Door  announced  "  that  his  ideas » were  much  changed  •  and 
that  u  the  Big  Knives  was  in  the  right ;"  "  that  he  would  tell  aft  the 
red  people  on  the  Wabash  to  bloody  the  hand  no  more  for  the 
English;"  and  jumping  up,  striking  his  breast,  said  he  was  "  a  man 
and  a  warrior ;  "  "  that  he  was  now  a  Big  Knife,"  and  shook  the 
hand  of  Capt.  Helm,  his  example  being  followed  by  all  present ;  and 
so.on  all  the  tribes  along  the  Wabash,  as  high  as  Ouiatenon,  came 
flo.cking  to  Vincennes  to  welcome  the  Big  Knives.  The  interests 
of  the  British  are  now  said  to  have  lost  ground  in  all  the  villages 
south  of  Lake  Michigan. 

A  few  months  later,  and  the  jurisdiction  of  Virginia  was  exten- 
ded over  the  settlements  of  the  Wabash  and  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi, through  the  organization  of  the  "  County  of  Illinois,"  over 
which  Col.  John  Todd  had  been  made  civil  commander. 

On  the  first  of  September,  the  time  of  enlistment  of  tli£  troops 
under  Clark  having  expired,  and  seventy  of  his  men  already  re- 
turned home,  to  take  their  places,  Clark  at  once  organized  a  com- 
pany of  the  inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  commanded  by 
their  own  officers,  and  soon  started  a  formidable  and  rapid  movcr 
ment  against  the  Indians,  with  whom  he  made  no  treaties  or  gave 
any  quarters.  His  idea  and  spirit  was  to  reduce  them  to  terms; 
without  any  parley ;  and  soon  the  name  of  Clark  became  a  terror 
among  the  tribes  of  the  northwest.  Before  the  clo§e  of  December, 
(1778)  these  hostilities  had  nearly  ceased,  and  everything  wore  a 
friendly  air  among  the  French  settlers. 

The  news  of  Clark's  success  having  at  length  reached  Detroit,  by 
way  of  this  point,  Hamilton,!  the  British  Governor,  at  once  determ- 
ined to  recapture  the  posts  again,  and  accordingly  with  eighty  reg- 

*"  Western  Annals,"  pages  173,  174. 

fThe  following  passport,  issued  by  Governor  Hamilton,  at   Detroit,   will  convey    a 

_.^i .          _  _j?  J.L  .,         ii  LI p     AY   '  -.  .      _3__*'i_      r  *_i.  ^  i^if      _       i._  ' 


Amable  Delifle,  employed  by  Mr.  Macleod,  to  depart  ir.ojn  this  post  and  go  to  St. 
Yineennes  ; — they  having  been  posted,  taken  the  usual  oath,  and  that  of  fidelity,  and 
triven  bond  in  the  penalty  of  Two  hundred  and  Fifty  Pounds,  New  York  currency,  by 
winch  they  bjud  themselves  that  they  will  not  sell  rum,  wine,  cider,  or  other  strong 


1U2  HJSTOKY  OF  FORT   WAYNE. 

ulars,  a  largo  iiumber  of  Canadian  militia,  and  six  hundred  Indians, 
he  ascended  the  Maumee,  to  this  point,  crossed  over  to  the  Wabash, 
and  made  a  rapid  movement  upon  Vincennes,  thinking  to  take  the 
fort  by  storm,  and  dpstroy  all  within  the  garrison.  Thus  they  moved 
forward.  Helm  was  not  to  be  dismayed.  Full  of  confidence,  and 
with  an  air  that  served  to  signify  that  the  fort  was  full  of  soldiers, 
he  leaped  upon  the  bastion,  near  a  cannon,  and,  swinging  his 
lighted  match,  shouted  with  great  force,  as  the  advancing  column 
approached,  "  Halt  !  or  I  will  blow  you  to  atoms  !  "  At  which  tho 
Indians  precipitately  took  to  the  woods,  and  the  Canadians  fell 
back  out  of  range  of  the  cannon.  Fearing  that  the  fort  was  well 
r.i;;nned,  and  that  a  desperate  encounter  would  ensue,  Hamilton 
thought  best  to  offer  a  parley.  Capt.  Helm  declaring  that  he  would 
light  as  long  as  a  man  was  left  to  bear  arms,  unless  permitted  to 
march  out  with  the  full  honors  of  war,  which  were  at  length  agreed 
upon,  and  the  garrison  thrown  open,  Helm  and  five  men,  all  told, 
marching  out,  to  the  utmost  astonishment  of  the  British  commander. 
But  Helm  was  afterwards  detained  in  the  fort  as  a  prisoner. 

The  season  now  being  late  and  unfavorable,  Hamilton  determin- 
ed to  take  no  further  steps  toward  a  capture  of  the  other  posts  till 
spring.  But  in  the  meantime  Clark,  towards  the  last  of  January, 
1779,  received  word  as  to  the  loss  of  Vincennes,  and  on  the  seventh 
of  February,  with  one  hundred  and  thirty  men,  he  took  up  his  line 
of  march  through  the  forest  for  Vincennes,  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles,  ordering  Captain  Rogers,  with  forty  men,  on 
board  a  large  keel-boat,  with  two  four-pounders  and  four  swivels, 
to  ascend  the  Wabash  within  a  few  miles  of  the  rriouth  of  White 
River  —  there  to  await  further  orders.*  The  march  through  the 
wilderness  was  one  of  peril  and  hardship  —  the  river  bottoms  were 
inundated  ;  and,  as  they  moved  through  these  lowlands,  the  sol- 
diers were  often,  while  having  to  feel  for  the  trail  with  their  feet, 
'••impelled  to  hold  their  guns  and  amunition  above  their  heads. 
Their  food  on  the  march  was  parched  corn  and  jerked  beef.  At 

liquors  to  the  Indians,  directly  or  indirectly,  nor  allow  the  same  to  be  done  by  any  one 
in  their  employ  ;  that  they  will  demean  themselv«s  as  good  and  faithful  subjects  ;  that 
they  will  exhibit  their  passport,  on  arriving  at  the  Miamis  (this  point)  and  at  the 
Weas.  (Ouiatenon,  below  Lafayette)  lo  those  who  ure  invested  with  authority;  and 
th-  v  bind  themselves,  under  the  pains  of  severe  punishment,  not  to  aid,  assist,  or  cor- 
respond with  the  enemies  of  his  Majesty  ;  and  also  that  they  will  give  information,  us 
M>on  a*  possible,  to  the  governors  or  officers  commanding  the  nearest  forts  or  post*,  of 
those  who  violate  any  of  the  provisions  above  mentioned.  And  if  any  one  should  es- 
cape from  any  of  the  post*  dependent  to  this  Goveimnent,  they  shall  immediately  give 
notice  thereof  to  the  Lieut.  Governor. 

Given  at  Detroit,  under  my  hand  and  seal,  House  of  the  King,  the  17th  of  June, 
1778.  HENRY  HAMILTON,  L.  ».  By  order  of  the  Lieut.  Governor,  P.  DEJEAN." 

*Col.  Clark  seems  to  have  had  his  attention  long  fixed  upon  th  is  point,  but  was 
aonbtlea  goraned  by  a  fair  sense  of  wisdom  in  all  his  movements.  In  A  letter  to  one 
Major  Boseron,  of  Yincennes,  bearing  date,  "  Louisville,  Feb.  28,  1780,"  CUrk  said  : 

••  I  learn  that  there  is  a  report  of  a  number  of  savages  collected  at  Omi  (the  Miami 
village  at  this  point)  with  an  intention  to  disturb  the  settlement  of  St.  Vincents.  I 
' 


.  . 

hop*  it  is  irnniiKlhrs  ;  it'  not,  I  could  only  wisli  tli.-it    they    would  keep  off  for  a  few 
weeb,  ana  I  think  they  would  be  more  stnsiblu  of  tlicvr  interest. 


LA  BALME'S  EXPEDITION.  103 

length,  after  some  delay,  on  the  evening  of  the  23d  of  February, 
arriving  upon  an  eminence  within  sight  of  the  fort,  Clark  ordered 
his  men  on  parade,  near  the  summit  of  the  hill,  overlooking  the 
fort,  keeping  them  marching  for  some  time,  in  a  manner  that  seem- 
ed to  the  English  commander  as  if  there  was  a  large  army  ap- 
proaching— at  least  a  thousand  men,  he  thought,  with  colors  plain- 
ly visible.  During  the  night  a  deep  ditch  was  dug  to  within  rifle- 
shot of  the  fort,  and  before  day-break,  a  number  of  men  were  sta- 
tioned therein  "  to  pick  off  the  garrison."  It  was  a  success  ;  every 
gunner  attempting  to  show  his  head  along  the  cannon  of  the  fort, 
or  peer  through  a  loop-hole  was  shot ;  and  on  the  25th  of  February 
the  fort  was  surrendered,  and  Hamilton,  Major  Hay,  and  a  few 
others,  as  instigators  in  the  incitement  of  Indian  murders  on  the 
frontiers,  accompanied  by  a  strong  guard,  were  sent  to  Virginia  to 
answer  for  the  crimes  charged  upon  them,  and  where  they  were 
put  in  irons  and  held  for  a  time  in  close  confinement  in  retaliation 
for  the  massacres  that  had  occurred  ;  but  were  finally  released  at 
the  suggestion  of  General  Washington. 

This  achievement  on  the  part  of  Clark  and  his  brave  comrades, 
left  them, — with  no  further  attempts  of  the  English  to  regain 
the  lost  forts,  on  the  Wabash  and  Upper  Mississippi, — in  posses- 
sion of  all  the  lower  portion  of  the  West  until  the  close  of  the  Rev- 
olution, when,  at  the  treaty  of  peace  with  the  English  in  1783,  on 
the  basis  of  its  having  been  conquered  and  held  by  Col.  Clark, 
Great  Britain  conceded  that  all  of  this  extended  region  of  territory 
belonged  to  the  United  States. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  (1780)  following  this  signal  success  of 
Clark  at  Vincennes,  a  Frenchman,  by  the  name  of  La  Balme*  form- 
ed a  plan  at  Kaskaskia  for  the  capture  of  Ke-ki-ong-a,  (this  point) 
then  held  by  the  British. 

"  This  village,"  says  the  account,!  "  was  situated  on  the  banks 
of  the  St.  Joseph  river,  commencing  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
above  its  confluence  with  the  St.  Mary,  which  forms  the  Miami, 
(Maumee)  and  was  near  the  present  city  of  Fort  Wayne.  It  had 
been  a  principal  town  of  the  Miami  Indians  for  at  least  sixty  years 
before  the  Revolution,  and  had  been  occupied  by  the  French  be- 
fore the  fall  of  Canada,  who  had  erected  a  fort  at  the  confluence  of 
the  rivers,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  St.  Joseph.  At  the  period  of 
the  Revolution,"  continues  the  account,  fl  it  had  become  a  place  of 
much  importance,  in  a  trading  and  military  point  of  view,  and  as 
such,  ranked,  in  the  north-west,  next  to  Detroit  and  Vincennes.  It 
was,  accordingly,  occupied  as  a  post  or  seat  of  an  official  for  In- 
dian affairs,  by  the  British  in  the  beginning  of  the  war.  Col.  Clark, 
on  the  capture  of  Vincennes,  had  meditated  an  expedition  against 
this  place,  as  well  as  against  Detroit ;  and  though  he  seems  never 

*Pronounccd  by  the  French  settlers  of  the  time  La  Sal. 

fBy  Charles  B.  Lassclle,  Esrj.,  formerly  a  resident  of  Fcrt  "Wayne,  but  now  residing 
at  Logansport,  Ind.,  first,  published  iu  the  "  Democratic  Pharos,"  of  Logansport,  1H57 


104  jIisTOKY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

to  have  abandoned  the  idea,  yet  lie  could  not  succeed  in  his  ar- 
rangements to  attempt  its  execution.  But  while  the  subject  was 
fitilf fresh  in  the  mind  of  Clark  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Lower 
Wabash,  another  individual  made  his  appearance  to  unrlertako 
what  even  the  daring  Clark,  with  greater  resources,  did  not  deem 
prudent  to  venture  upon.  This  was  LA  BALMK.  But  of  him  and 
his  expedition,  it  may  be  here  stated,  very  little  information  of  an 
entirely  authentic  shape,  is  within  our  reach.  Excepting  about  a 
do/en 'lines  in  Mr.  Dillon's  Historical  Notes,  no  published  ace-punt 
whatever  of  this  expedition  has  ever  appeared.  Whatever  may 
be  given  in  this  brief  sketch,  has  been  obtained  mostly  from  some 
of  those  who  were  in  part  eye-witnesses  to  the  events,  and  from  tra- 
dition as  handed  down  by  the  old  inhabitants.  La  Balme  was  a  na- 
tive of  France,  and  had  come  to  this  country  as  some  kind  of  an 
officer,  with  the  French  troops,  under  LaFayettc,  in  1770.  We  are 
not  apprised  whether  he  came  to  the  west  on  his  own  responsibility, 
or  whether  he  was  directed  by  some  authority;  but  we  find  him,  in 
the  summer  of  1780,  in  Kaskaskia,  raising  volunteers  to  form  an 
expedition  against  the  post  of  Ke-ki-ong-a,  with  the  ulterior  view, 
in  case  of  success,  of  extending  his  operations  against  the  fort  and 
towns  of  Detroit.  At  Kaskaskia  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  only 
between  twenty  and  thirty  men.  With  these  he  proceeded  to  Vin- 
cennes,  where  he  opened  a  recruiting  establishment  fo:  the  pur- 
pose of  raising  the  number  necessary  for  his  object.*  But  he  does 
pot  seem  to  have  met  hero  with  the  favor  and  encouragement  of 
the  principal  inhabitants,  or  to  have  had  much  success  in  his  en- 
listment. His  expedition  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  doubtful  pro- 
priety, both  as  to  its  means  and  objects,  and  it  met  with  the  en- 
couragement, generally,  of  only  the  less  considerate.  Indeed,  from 
the  fragment  qf  an  old  song,f  as  sung  at  the  time  by  the  maidens 
of  Vincennes  qn  the  subject  of  La  Balme  and  his  expedition,  pre- 
served by  the  writer,  it  would  seem  that  plunder  and  fame  were  as 
much  its  objects,  as  that  of  conquest  for  the  general  good.  Injus- 
tice may  have  been  done  him,  in  this  respect;  but  it  is  quite  cer- 
tain, frqrn  all  accounts,  that  though  a  generous  and  gallant  man, 
well  calculated  to  bo  of  service  in  his  proper  sphere,  yet  he  was  too 
reckless  and  inconsiderate  to  lead  such  an  expedition.  How  long 
ho  remained  at  Vincennes,  we  have  not  now,  perhaps,  any  means 
of  knowing.  But  sometime  in  the  fall  of  that  year — 1780 — with,  as 
is  supposed,  between  fifty  and  sixty  men,  he  proceeded  up  the  Wa- 
bash on  his  adventure. 
"  He  conducted  his  march  with  such  caution  and  celerity,  that 

•This  establishment,  says  $£r.  Lasselle,  in  ft  note,  was  situate  on  lot  No.  106,  near 
Ilic  corner  ot'  Market  and  Third  streets,  in  what  had  been  called  the  "Old  Yellow 
Tavern." 

••''J'li"  f..llow ins  is  tin-  lw>ginning  of  the  gong  referred  to,  as  "  sung  by  the  inhabitants 
ot  \  im-.-iin.*, . Inly,  1778,"  in  the  languape  of  Mr.  Lusselie,  "when  the  priest,  M. 
(Hi  anil,  won  them  to  the  American  side  :" 

"  No1r"  bon  cinv,  jilui.  brave  que  Devaux, 
A  ]'ris  Kotre  village  suns  tambour  drapeau." 


FATE  OF  LA.  BALME  AND  ins  FOLLOWERS.  105 

he  appeared  at  the  village  (here)  before  even  the*  watchful  inhabi- 
tants had  apprehended  his  approach.  The  sudden  appearance  of  a 
foe,  unknown  as  to  character,  numbers,  and  designs,  threw  them 
into  the  greatest  alarm,  and  they  fled  on  all  sides.  La  Balme  took 
possession  of  the  place  without  insistence.  It  was,  probably,  his 
intention,  in  imitation  of  Clark's  capture  of  Kaskaskia,  to  take  the 
village  and  its  inhabitants  by  surprise,  and  then  by  acts  and  pro- 
fessions of  kindness  and  friendship,  to  win  them  over  to  the  Amer- 
ican cause  ;  but  the  inhabitants,  including  some  six  or  eight  French 
traders,  totally  eluded  his  grasp.  His  occupation  of  the  village 
was  not  of  long  duration.  After  remaining  a  short  time,  and  ma- 
king plunder  of  the  goods  of  some  of  the  French  traders  and  In- 
dians, he  retired  to  near  the  Aboite  Creek*  and  encamped.  The 
Indians  having  soon  ascertained  the  number  and  character  of  La 
Balme's  forces,  and  learning  that  they  were  Frenchmen,  wrere  not 
disposed  at  first  to  avenge  the  attack.  But  of  the  traders  living 
there,  (here),  there  were  two,  named  Beaubienf  and  La  Fontaine,J 
who,  nettled  and  injured  by  the  invasion  and  plunder  of  the  place, 
were  not  disposed  to  let  the  invaders  off  without  a  blow.  These 
men  having  incited  the  Indians  to  follow  and  attack  La  Balme, 
they  soon  rallied  their  warriors  of  the  village  and  vicinity  under 
the  lead  of  their  war  chief,  the  Little  Turtle,  and  falling  upon  them 
in  the  night  time,  massacred  the  entire  party.  Not  one  is  said  to 
have  survived  to  relate  the  sad  story  of  the  expedition. 

£'  Such,"  s.ays  Mr.  Lasseile,  *'  is  a  brief  and  imperfect  account  of 
La  Balme's  expedition,  of  which  so  little  is  known.  It  may,"  con- 
tinues he,  "  not  have  been  impelled  by  the  most  patriotic  motives, 
nor  guided  by  wise  counsels,  nor  attended  with  results  especially 
beneficial  to  the  country ;  yet,  as  an  interesting  event,  connected 
with  the  early  history  of  the  country,  it  should  be  rescued  from  the 
oblivion  which  rests  upon  it."|| 

*About  the  point  where  the  Wabash  and  Erie  Canal  crosses  this  stream. 

fSays  a  note  to  this  account :  "Beaabien  married  the  chicfcss,  -widow  of  Joseph 
Drouot  de  Richardville,  and  mother  of  the  late  chief  of  the  nation,  John  B.  Riehard- 
ville." 

t  Father  of  the  late  Miami  chief,  La  Fontaine. 

||  A  short  account  of  La  Balme's  expedition  may  also  be  found  in  "Annals  of  the 
}Vtst,"  pages  318,  311). 


CHAPTER  X. 

"  Like  the  dim  traditions,  hoary, 

Of  our  loved  and  native  clime  ; 
Like  some  half-forgotten  story, 

Read  or  heard  in  olden  time." — LEWIS  J.  CIST. 


Emigratipn  -westward — Organization  of  a  territorial  government — Settlements  at  Cin 
cinnati  (Loeantiville)  and  North  Bend — Emigrant  boats — Movements  from  Fort 
Washington  to  this  point — Spanish  and  Indians — Dissolution — Suggestions  of 
General  Washington — His  letter  to  Richard  Henry  Lee — The  importance  of  the 
Miami  village — -Treaties  and  cessions — Congress  and  Indian  lands — Indian  basis 
of  complaint — Council  of  1793 — Indian  speech — Further  troubles — What  the  In- 
dians thought  would  be  the  result — Miamies,  under  Little  Turtle,  lead  a  confed- 
eracy— Depredations — Report  of  Gen.  Knox — The  Wabash  Indians — Letter  of 
Gov.  St.  Clair — The  President  of  the  U.  S.  empowered  to  call  forth  the  militia  of 
the  States— Washington's  instructions  to  Gov.  St.  Clair — Gov.  St.  Clair  proceeds 
to  the  Illinois — Losantiville  changed  to  Cincinnati — Speeches  to  the  Wabash  In- 
dians— Antoine  Gamelin  delivers  the  messages — Reaches  this  point — Gamelin's 
journal — The  man-eating  society  at  this  point — Gen.  Cass'  address,  «fec. — St. 
Clair's  return — Movement  against  the  Indians — British  commandant  at  Detroit 
notified — British  aid  to  the  Indians — Militia  arrive  at  Cincinnati — Organization 
of  the  army  under  Gen  Harinar,  and  movement  upon  the  Miami  village  here — 
The  army  reach  the  village  and  find  it  deserted — Disorder  of  the  troops — A  de- 
tachment— Return  of  the  ccojite — An  order — Another  scout — Fires  of  the  Indians 
discovered — Indians  discovered — Detachment  moves  forward — Indians  concealed 
— An  attack — Detachment  put  to  flight — Village  destroyed — Harmar  moves  down 
the  Maumee — Issues  more  orders — Starts  for  Fort  Washington — Encampment — 
Col.  Hardin  desires  to  return  to  the  village — His  desire  granted — Indians  discov- 
— Some  disorder — An  attack— An  account  of  one  of  the  wounded — Indians 
again  victorious — Retreat — Army  starts  again  for  Fort  Washington,  where  it  ar- 
rives in  safety— 'Names  of  the  killed — Expedition  of  Major  Hamtramck — Another 
dreary  winter. 

,  UT  A  FEW  YEARS  had  elapsed,  after  the  struggle  for  Inde- 
kpendence,  when  a  tide  of  emigration  began  to  set  in  to  the 
^westward  again,  and  a  territorial  government,  with  a  small 
^f  settlement,  was  established  at  Campus    Martius,  now  Mari- 
'    etta.  Ohio,  in  July,  1788.     The  officers  of  the  government  were 
General  Arthur  St.  Clair,  Governor ;  AVinthrop  Sargent,  Secretary ; 
and  three  judges  for  the  executive  council.     Campus  Martius  was 
of  square  form,. one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  each  way.     Small 
steeples  extended  from  the  top  of  each  block  house,  which  were 
bullet-proof,  and  served  as  sentry-boxes  ;  while  the  square  was  en- 
compassed by  a  strong  palisade,  some  ten  feet  in  height,  and  the 


EAELY  SETTLEMENTS  IN  THK  NORTHWEST.  107 

buildings,  all  within  the  enclosure,  were  constructed  of  whip-sawed 
timber,  about  four  inches  thick,  dove-tailed  at  the  corners,  and  cov- 
ered with  shingle  roofs,  each  room  of  which  had  fire-places  and 
brick  chimneys.  The  towers  and  bastions  were  bright  with  white- 
wash. 

For  the  most  part,  the  settlers  of  the  Northwestern  Territory 
were  men  who  had  spent  a  large  part  of  their  lives,  as  well  as 
fortunes,  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  Such  was  the  character  of  a 
party  of  emigrants,  uncjer  the  leadership  of  Geperal  Rufus  Putnam, 
who  left  New  England  in  1787,  and,  descending  the  Ohio,  to  a 
point  below  Marietta,  began  the  settlement  of  Belpre,  bringing 
thither  with  them,  and  establishing  there,  many  of  the  primi- 
tive habits  and  customs  of  their  ancestors.  First  erecting  substan- 
tial buildings  for  their  families,  they  set  about  the  erection 
and  organization  of  a  ehurch  and  school,  toward  which  all  are  said 
to  have  contributed  "  with  a  light  good  will ;"  and  these  were  the 
first  institutions  of  the  kind  established  in  the  Northwestern  Ter- 
ritory. 

Two  years  later,  in  1789,  the  first  settlement  was  formed  at  or 
near  the  present  site  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  by  some  twenty  persons, 
under  the  lead  of  Israel  Ludlow  and  Robert  Patterson,  and  then 
called  Losantiville.  The  original  appearance  of  the  present  Cin- 
cinnati, as  at  the  time  of  its  first  settlement,  is  described  as  "  a 
beautiful  woodland  bottom,  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  sixty  feet 
above  low-water  mark,  and  extending  back  three  hundred  yards  to 
the  base  of  a  second  bank,  which  rose  forty  feet  higher,  and  then 
sloped  gently  more  than  a  half  mile  to  the  foot  of  the  bluff;  the 
bottom  being  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  sycampre,  maple, 
and  black-walnut ;  the  second  with  beech,  oak,  and  hickory  tim- 
ber." In  January  of  this  year,  another  party  moved  cjown  the 
Ohio,  and  began  a  settlement  at  North  Bend.  The  craft  or  boats 
in  which  these  early  settlers  descended  the  river,  to  the  present 
generation,  would  indeed  seem  novel.  They  usually  consisted  of  a 
frame-work  of  logs,  covered  with  green  oak  planks,  and  caulked 
with  rags.  Snugly  ensconsed  in  these,  men,  women,  and  children 
floated  down  the  rivers  to  their  destination,  unexposed  to  the  at- 
tacks of  the  Indians,  who  often  |ired  upon  them  from  the  river 
banks. 

For  some  years,  a  spirit  of  rivalry  existed  between  the  settle- 
ments of  Cincinnati  (Losantiville)  and  North  Bend  as  to  the  best 
point  for  the  establishment  of  a  military  post,  and  for  a  time  North 
Bend,  from  its  natural  security  against  the  attacks  of  the  Indians, 
seemed  destined  to  become  the  most  advantageous  and  permanent 
point,  and  many  emigrants  canie  flocking  thitherward.  But  at  length, 
the  commanding  officer  becoming  enamored  with  a  beautiful  wro- 
man  at  the  Bend,  the  wife  of  one  of  the  settlers,  the  husband  be- 
came alarmed  or  jealous,  and  removed  to  Losantiville,*  so  runs 

*A  school-teacher,  by  the  name   of  Filson,   being  called  on  to  name  the  settlement 


108  IIisxoitY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

the  record  ;  and  North  Bend  at  once  began  to  decline  in  the  appre* 
elation  of  the  commanding  officer,  as  the  most  available  military 
point  for  the  protection  of  the  northwest  territory,  and  the  troops 
Avrre  soon  removed  to  Losantiville,  which  post  was  called  Fort 
Washington.  It  was  from  this  point  that  the  first  movement,  un- 
der Gen.  Harmar,  who  was  then  commandant  at  Fort  Washington, 
was  made  against  the  Indians  at  the  present  site  of  Fort  Wayne, 
under  the  administration  of  Gen.  Washington,  in  October,  1790. 
It  was  also  from  these  points,  which,  at  an  early  peried  here,  were 
known  as  "  the  settlements,1'  that  came  most  of  the  earlier  so- 
journers  and  settlers  of  Fort  Wayne  ;  then  still  known  as  the  Miami 
villaap  or  Omi  ;*  not  only  Harmar's,  but  the  subsequent  expedi- 
tions of  Gens.  St.  Glair  and  Wayne,  started  from  Fort  Washington 
for  this  point. 

During  1780,  1781,  to  1785-6,  difficulties  had  arisen  between  the 
colonial  government  and  the  Spanish  on  the  Lower  Mississippi,  as 
to  the  navigation  of  that  river,  and  the  possession  of  a  large  part 
of  the  western  territory,  together  with  much  trouble  with  the  In- 
dians of  the  west,  more  especially  along  the  Ohio,  which  continued 
to  give  the  settlements  great  trouble  for  some  time  subsequent,  and 
also  greatly  to  disturb  the  internal  relations  of  the  country  gener- 
ally. In  addition  to,  and  effects  arising  mainly  from,  these  causes, 
Kentucky,  at  an  early  day  during  the  foregoing  period,  began  and 
continued  for  some  years  to  manifest,  with  other  parts  of  the  south-: 
west,  considerable  dissatisfactiqn.  The  government  had  permitted 
the  Spaniards  of  the  south  to  control  the  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi; many  privations  had  come  upon  the  people  of  the  wesr  in 
consequence,  and  a  spirit  of  distrust  ha'd  gradually  given  rise  to  a 
spirit  of  dissolution,!  especially  in  Kentucky,  which,  at  that  period, 
and  for  some  years  later,  yet  formed  a  part  of  Virginia.  Washing- 
here  begun,  ca'led  it.  "  Losnntiville,"  the  interpretation  of  which  ran  ns  follows  ' 
Yille,  the  town  ;  etnti,  opposite  to;  os,  the  mouth;  L,  of  Licking  river  ;  which,  at  the 
time,  was  considered,  we  believe,  a  pretty  fine  effort  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Filson. 

*"  A  corrupt  orthography  and  abridgement  of  the  French  term  Au,  or  Aux  Miamis  ; 
M  Au  Cas  is  a  corruption  o't  Au  Kuskaskias,  to  Kaskaskia. "---History  of  Kentucky. 

fA  per.«on,  thought  to  have  been  a  man  bv  the  name  of  Greei,  of  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky, writing  to  nome  person  in  New  England,  under  date  of  December  •!,  17b'6, 
said  :  "  Our  situation  is  as  bad  as  it  possibly  can  lie,  therefore  ever}'  exertion  to  re- 
trieve our  circumstances  must  be  manly,  eligible  and  just.  We  can  raise  twenty  thou- 
sand troojw  this  (tide  of  the  Allegheny  and  Apalachian  Mountains,  and  the  annual  in- 
crease of  them  by  emigration  from  other  parts,  is  from  two  to  four  thousand. 

"  We  hnve  taken  all  the  goods  belonging  to  the  Spanish  merchants  of  Post  Vin- 
rf>iines  and  the  Illinois,  and  are  determined  they  shall  not  trade  up  the  river,  provided 
they  will  not  let  us  trade  down  it.  Preparations  are  now  being  made  here  (if  necessary) 
to  drive  the  Spaniards  from  their  settlements,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  In  case 
we  are  not  countenanced  and  succored  by  the  United  States,  (if  we  need  it)  our  alle- 
giance will  !*>  thrown  off,  and  «>me  other  power  applied  to. 

"  Great  Britain  stands  ready  with  open  arms  to  receive  and  support  us.  They  have 
already  offered  to  open  their  resources  for  our  supplies.  When  one?  re-united  to  them, 
4  farewell,  a  long  farewell  to  all  your  boasted  grea'tncss.'  The  province  of  Canada  and 
the  inhabitant*  <-f  tln-M- waters,  of  themselves,  in  time,  will  be  able  to  conquer  you. 
You  are  as  ignoj'ant  of  this  country  a«  Great  Britain  wa«  of  America .  These  are  hints, 
*-h)ch,  if  right|y  improved,  may  Cc  of  service  j  if  not,  blame  yourselves  for  the  neglect.1' 


SUGGESTIONS  OF  GE$.  WASHINGTON.  109 

ton  had  felt  the  pressure^  and  soon  presented  important  sugges- 
tions, as  he  had  done  before  the  revolution,  relative  to  the 
organization  of  commercial  and  navigation  companies,  as  the 
best  means  of  protecting  and  cementing  the  interests  of  the  East 
and  West. 

In  a  letter  to  Governor  Harrison  in  this  year,  (178i)  lie  strenu- 
ously urged  the  importance  oi  binding  together  all  parts  of  the  Union, 
and  especially  the  West  and  East,  with  the  indissoluble  bonds  of 
interest,  with  a  view  to  prevent  the  formation  of  commercial,  and, 
in  consequence,  political  connections  with  either  the  Spaniards  on 
the  South,  or  the  English  on  the  North]  and  recommended  the 
Speedy  survey  of  the  Potomac  arid  James  rivers;  of  the  portage  to 
the  waters  of  the  Ohio;  of  the  Muskingum  ;  and  the  portage  from 
that  river  to  the  Cuyahoga ;  for  the  purpose  of  opening  a  water 
communication  for  the  commerce  of  the  Ohio  .and  the  lakes,  to  the 
seaboard,  and  denominated  it  as  an  object  of  great  political  and 
commercial  importance. 

To  Richard  Henry  Lee,  in  the  same  year,  Washington  wrot£ : 
"  Wduld  it  not  be  worthy  of  the  wisdom  and  attention  of  Congress 
to  have  the  western  waters  well  explored,  the  navigation  of  them 
fullt  ascertained  and  accurately  laid  down,  and  a  complete  and 
perfect  map  made  of  the  country,  at  least  as  far  westerly  as  the 
Miamis,  rupning  into  the  Ohio,  and  Lake  Erie,  and  to  see  how  the1 
waters  of  these  communicate  with  the  river  St.  Joseph,  which  emp- 
ties into  Lake  Michigan,  and  witli  the  Wabash?  for  1  cannot  for- 
bear observing  that  the  Miami  village*  points  to  a  v'ery  important 
post  for  the  Union." 

The  Indian,  though  usually  called  a  savage,  and  doubtless,  as  a 
general  rule  in  earlier  days;  properly  so,  yet  possessed,  with  all,  a" 
singular  intelligence.  From  the  first  dealings  of  the  colonists  of 
Virginia  with  the  famous  Powhattans  ;  the  Pilgrims,  at  Plymouth  5 
with  Massasoit  and  his  son  Metacomet,  (King  Phillip)  of  the  Wam- 
panoags,  about  Mount  Hope,  to  the  later  settlements  of  the  West 
and  the  various  tribes  of  the  southwest,  they  ever  exhibited  a 
peculiar  knowledge  of  etiquette,  and  seldom  forgot  this  sense  of 
regard  even  for  their  enemies  or  the  most  presumptive  intruders^ 
where  the  chiefs  and  sachems  could  exercise  a1  voice. 

It  was  not  a  custom  with  the  French,  at  any  time  afc  any  of  the 
points  of  their  settlements  in  the  West,  to  make  large  purchases  of 
lands  from  the  Indians;  small  tracts  about  their  settlements  invari- 
ably served  to  supply  their  wrants;  and  at  the  treaty  of  Paris,  in 
1763,  these  small  grants,  about  the  forts  of  Detroit,  Vincennes, 
Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  &c.,  were  all  that  they  ceded  to  the  English. 

*At,  this  point.  I  have  italicised  this  part  of  Washington's  letter  to  call  attention  to 
the'importance  then  attached  to  the  present  site  of  i"'ort  Wayne.  Had  dissolution  been 
attempted  at  any  time  during  the  above  period,  and  the  British  called  to  the  aid  of 
the  West,  this  would  have  been  an  admirable  base  for  the  operations  of  the  colonial 
army,  once  having  fortified  themselves  and  prepared  for  a  si'-ge — a  fact  which  Wash- 
ington seems  most  fullv  to  have  been  aware  of. 


HO  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

Following  close  upon  this  treaty  came  the  war  and  the  defeat  of 
Pontiac;- and  in  1768,  a  grant  by  the  Iroquois  or  Six  Nations,  at 
Fort  Stanwix,  or  the  land  south  of  the  Ohio,  which  grant  was  not 
respected  by  those  hunting  on  the  grounds  thus  conveyed.  Dun* 
more's  War,  of  1774,  was  concluded  Without  any  transfer  of  lands 
to  the  whites  ;  and,  at  the  close  of  the  revolution,  in  1783,  when 
Great  Britain  transferred  her  western  claims  to  the  United  States, 
she  conveyed  nothing  but  what  she  had  previbusly  received  from 
France,  excepting  the  guarantee  of  the  Six  Nations  and  the  south- 
ern tribes  to  a  part  of  the  land  soictJi  of  the  Ohio  ;  while  none  of  the 
territory  claimed  by  the  Miamies,  western  Delawares,  Shawanoes, 
\Vvandotts  or  Hurons,  and  some  other  tribes  still  to  the  west  and 
north,  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  this  treaty. 

But  a  different  viow  was  taken  of  the  matter  by  Congress  at  this 
period ;  and  concluding  that  the  treaty  guaranteed  to  the  United 
States  the  full  right  to  all  territory  theri  transferred,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  considering  the  right  of  the  Indians  to  the  territory  as  forfeit- 
ed by  acts  of  warfare  against  the  colonial  government  during  the 
struggle  for  Independence,  made  no  movement  towards  a  purchase 
of  the  lands  from  the  Indians,  but  began  to  form  treaties  of  peace 
with  them,  'and  to  suggest  its  own  boundary  lines. 

It  was  in  this  way,  in  October,  1784,  at  the  second  treaty  of 
Stanwix,  that  the  United  States  obtained  the  right  possessed  by  the 
Iroquois  to  the  western  territory,  north  and  south  of  the  Ohio ;  and 
though  publicly  and  honorably  concluded,  its  legality  was  yet 
questioned  by  many  of  the  Iroquois,  the  basis  of  their  opposition 
resting  upon  the  fact  that  that  treaty  was  with  only  a  part  of  the 
Indian  tribes  ;  and  that  it  was  the  desire  of  the  tribes  that  the  Uni- 
ted States  Government  should  treat  with  them  as  a  body,  including 
all  the  Indians  bordering  upon  the  lakes  of  the  north. 

The1  provisions  of  October,  1783,  had  arranged  for  one  great 
council  of  all  the  tribes ;  but  in  the  month  of  March  following,  1784, 
this  provision  was  changed  to  that  of  holding  councils  with  each 
separate  tribe  or  nation  ;  and  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
Government  to  superintend  these  affairs,  refusing  to  pay  further 
attention  to  the  subject  of  a  general  council  with  the  northern  tribes, 
in  October,  1784,  as  against  the  wishes  of  Ked  Jacket,  Brant,  and 
other  chiefs,  of  the  Iroquois,  terminated  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix, 

After  which,  in  January,  of  the  following  year,  (1785),  a  treaty 
was  concluded  with  the  Wyandotts,  Delawares,  Chipewas,  and  Ot- 
tawas  ;  but  the  legality  of  the  former  treaty  seems  not  then  to  have 
been  questioned,  by  the  Wyandotts  and  Delawares,  at  least ;  and 
yet  it  was  asserted  at  a  general  council  of  some  sixteen  tribes  of 
northwestern  Indians,  in  1793,  'that  the  treaties  of  Forts  Stanwix, 
Mclntosh,  and  Finney,  (the  latter  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Mi- 
ami,) were  the  result  of  intimidation,  and  held  only  with  single 
tribes,  at  which,  they  asserted  that  the  Indians  had  br-en  invited  to 


INDIAN  TREATIES — CAUSES  OF  COMPLAINT.  Ill 

form  treaties  of  peace,  but,  instead,  forced  to   make  cessions  of 
land. 

In  January,  1786,  a  third  treaty  was  held  by  the  United  States, 
at  Fort  Finney,  with  the  Shawanoes ;  and  the  Wabash  tribes  being 
invited  to  be  present,  would  not  go.  In  1789,  confirmatory  of  pre- 
ceding treaties,  the  fourth  and  fifth  treaties  were  held  at  Fort  Har- 
mar,  one  with  the  Six  Nations ;  the  other  with  the  Wyandotts,  Dela- 
wares,  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Pottawattamies;  anfl  feacs ;  and  it 
seems,  from  speeches  made  at  a  subsequent  council  of  the  confed- 
erated tribes,  more  particularly  of  the  lake^  (1793)  that  they  would 
hot  accept  those  treaties  as  at  all  binding  upon  them.  Said  one  of 
the  chiefs  at  this  latter  council  : 

"  Brothers  :  We  are  in  possession  of  the  speeches  and  letters 
which  passed  on  that  occasion,  (council  convened  by  Governor 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  in  1788,)  between  those  deputied  by  the  confed- 
erate Indians,  and  Gov.  St.  Clair,  the  commissioner  of  the  United 
States.  These  papers  prove  that  your  said  commissioner,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1789,  after  having  been  informed  by  the 
general  council  of  the  preceding  fall  that  no  bargain  or  sale  of  any 
part  of  these  lands  would  be  considered  as  valid  or  binding,  unless 
agreed  to  by  a  general  council,  nevertheless  persisted  in  collecting 
together  a  few  chiefs  of  two  or  three  nations  only,  and  with  them 
held  a  treaty  for  the  cession  of  an  immense  country,  in  which  they 
were  no  more  interested,  than  as  a  branch  of  the  general  confeder- 
acy, and  who  were  in  no  manner  authorized  to  make  any  grant  or 
cession  whatever. 

"  Brothers  :  How  then  was  it  possible  for  you  to  expect  to  enjoy 
peace,  and  quietly  to  hold  these  lands,  when  your  commissioner 
Was  informed,  long  before  he  held  the  treaty  of  Fort  Harmar,  that 
the  consent  of  a  general  council  was  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
sale  of  any  part  of  these  lands  to  the  United  States."* 

From  these  facts,  in  part,  at  least,  it  will  be  seen  why  the  expe- 
ditions of  1790-'9l,  and  1793-%  with  the  efforts  of  18ll-'12  and 
'13,  met  with  such  stubborn  and  relentless  resistence  from  the  Mi- 
amies  and  other  tribes,  as  detailed  in  subsequent  pages.  The  ini-- 
pression  that  they  would,  without  remuneration  or  mercy  be  des- 
poiled of  their  lands  and  at  length  driven  away,  seems  to  have 
gained  possession  of  the  tribes  generally  of  the  northwest  before 
and  during  the  early  campaigns  of  Harmar,  St.  Clair,  and  Wayne  ; 
and  the  Miamies, — though,  as  it  would  seem  from  Gamelin's  jour- 
nal, a  strong  spirit  of  unity  did  not  prevail  among  the  different 
tribes,  before  and  during  1780, — led  the  way  under  the  lead  of  Lit- 
tle Turtle,  with  formidable  effect. 

With  a  feeling  of  bitterness  and  revenge  towards  the  United 
States,  small  bands  of  Indians  had  begun,  in  the  spring  of  1789  to 
attack  the  settlements  along  the  western  borders  of  Virginia  and 
Kentucky. 

>"  Western  Annals,"  page.?  f>22,  523,  £24. 


1 1 2  HISTORY  OF  FORT  W  AYXE. 

The  Secretary  of  War  of  the  period,  General  Knox,  in  a  report 
to  the  President,  15th  of  June,  1789,  presented  this  subject  as 
follows : 

"  By  information  from  Brigd'r-General  Harmar,  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  troops  on  the  frontier,  it  appears  that  several  murders 
have  been  lately  committed  on  the  inhabitants,  by  small  parties  ot 
Indians,  probably  from  the  Wabash  country.  Some  of  the  said 
murders  having  been  perpetrated  on  the  south  side  of  the  Ohio, 
the  inhabitants  on  the  waters  of  that  river  are  exceedingly  alarm- 
ed, for  the  extent  of  six  or  seven  hundred  miles  along  the  same. 
It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  United  States  have  not  formed  any 
treaties  with  the  Wabash  Indians ;  on  the  contrary,  since  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  hostilities  have  almost  con- 
Btantly  existed  between  the  people  of  Kentucky  and  the  said  In- 
dians. The  injuries  and  murders  have  been  so  reciprocal  that  it 
would  be  a  point  of  critical  investigation  to  know  on  which  side 
they  have  been  the  greatest.  Some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Kentucky 
during  the  past  year,  roused  by  recent  injuries,  made  an  incursion 
into  the  Wabash  country,  and  possessing  an  equal  aversion  to  all 
bearing  the  the  name  of  Indians,  they  destroyed  a  number  of  peaee^ 
able  Piankeshaws*  who  prided  themselves  in  their  attachment  to 
the  United  States.  Things  being  thus  circumstanced,  it  is  greatly 
h>  be  apprehended  that  hostilities  may  be  so  far  extended  as  to  in- 
volve the  Indian  tribes  with  whom  the  United  States  have  recently 
made  treaties.  It  is  well  known  how  strong  the  passion  for  war  exists 
in  the  mind  of  a  young  savage^  and  how  easily  it  may  be  inflamed, 
BO  as  to  disregard  every  precept  of  the  older  and  wiser  part  of  the 
tribes  who  may  have  a  more  just  opinion  of  the  force  of  a  treaty. 
Hence,  it  results  that  unless  some  decisive  measures  are  immedi- 
ately adopted  to  terminate  those  mutual  hostilities,  they  will  proba- 
bly become  general  among  all  the  Indians  northwest  of  the  Ohio. 

"  In  examining  the  question  how  the  disturbances  on  the  fron- 
tiers are  to  be  quifeted.  two  modes  present  themselves  by  which  the 
Object  might  perhaps  DC  effected — the  first  of  which  is  by  raising- 
an  army  and  extirpating  the  refractory  tribes  entirely  ;  or,  secondly, 
by  forming  treaties  of  peace  with  them  in  which  their  rights  and 
limits  should  be  explicitly  defined,  and  the  treaties  observed  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  with  the  most  rigid  justice,  by  pun- 
ishing the  whites  who  should  violate  the  same. 

"  In  considering  the  first  mode,  an  inquiry  would  arise,  whether, 
wider  the  existing  circumstances  oj.  affairs,  the  United  States  have 
a  clear  right,  consistently  with  the  principles  of  justice  and  the 
laws  of  nature,  toproceed  to  the  destruction  or  expulsion  of  the 
tavayes  on  the  Wabash,  supposing  the  force  for  that  object  easily 
attainable.  It  is  presumable  that  a  nation  solicitous  of  establish. 
ing  its  character  on  the  broad  basis  of  justice,  would  not  only  hesi. 

•The  same,  riouUle**,  un.ler  the  lend  of  the  "  fi-and  Door,"  who  gavo  so  hearty  a 
•welcome  to  Capt.  Helm,  at  Yincuince,  after  the  capture  of  that  post  »>y  Col.  Clark." 


REPORT  OF  SECRETARY  KNOX.  113 

frate  at  but  reject  every  proposition  to  benefit  itself  by  the  injury 
of  any  neighboring;  community,  however  contemptible  and  weak 
it  may  be,  either  with  respect  to  its  manners  or  power.  When  it 
shall  be  considered  that  the  Indians  derive  their  subsistence  chiefly 
by  hunting,  and  that,  according  to  fixed  principles,  their  popula- 
tion is  in  proportion  to  the  facility  with  which  they  procure  their 
food,  it  would  most  probably  be  found  that  the  expulsion  or 
destruction  of  the  Indian  tribes  have  nearly  the  same  effect;  for  if 
they  are  removed  from  their  usual  hunting-grounds,  they  must 
necessarily  encroach  on  the  hunting-grounds  of  another  tribe,  who 
will  not  suffer  the  encroachment  with  impunity — hence  they  de- 
stroy each  other.  The  Indians,  being  the  prior  occupants,  possess 
the  right  of  the  soil.  It  can  not  be  taken  from  them  unless  by  their 
free  consent,  or  by  the  right  of  conquest  in  case  of  a  just  war.  To 
dispossess  them  on  any  other  principle,  would  be  a  gross  violation 
of  the  fundamental  laws  of  nature,  and  of  that  distributive  justice 
which  is  the  glory  of  a  nation.  But  if  it  should  be  decided,  on  an 
abstract  view  of  the  question,  to  be  just  to  remove  by  force  the 
Wabash  Indians  from  the  territory  they  occupy,  the  finances  of  the 
United  States  would  not  at  present  admit  of  the  operation. 

"By  the  best  and  latest  information,  it  appears  that  on  the  "Wa- 
bash and  its  communications,  there  are  from  fifteen  hundred  to  two 
thousand  warriors,.  An  expedition  against  them,  with  a  view  of 
extirpating  them.,  or  destroying  their  towns,  could  not  be  under- 
taken, with  a  probability  of  success,  with  less  than  an  army  of  two 
thousand  five  hundred  men.  The  regular  troops  of  the  United  States 
on  the  frontiers  are  less  than  six  hundred  :*  of  that  number  not 
more  than  four  hundred  could  be  collected  from  the  posts  for  the 
purpose  of  the  expedition.  To  raise,  pay,  feed,  arm,  and  equip  one 
thousand  nine  hundred  additional  men,  with  the  necessary  oilicers, 
for  six  months,  and  to  provide  every  thing  in  the  hospital  and  quar- 
termasters line,  would  require  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  a  sum  far  exceeding  the  ability  of  the  United  States  to  ad- 
vance, consistently  with  a  due  regard  to  other  indispensable  objects." 

On  the  26th  of  August,  ITS 9,  about  two  hundred  mounted  vol- 
unteers, under  the  command  of  Colonel  John  Hardin,  marched 
from  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  to  attack  some  of  the  Indian  towns  on 
the  Wabash.  This  expedition  returned  to  the  Falls  on  the  28th  of 
September,  without  the  loss  of  a  man — having  killed  six  Indians, 
plundered  and  burnt  one  deserted  village,  and  destroyed  a  consid- 
erable quantity  of  corn.f 

In  a  letter,  addressed  to  President  Washington,  bearing  date 
"September,  14,  1789,"  Governor  St.  Glair  said: 

"The  constant  hostilities  betw-een  the  Indians  who  live  upon 
the  river  Wabash  and  the  people  of  Kentucky,  must  necessarily  be 
attended  with  such  embarrassing  circumstances  to  the  government 

*Detachments  of  regular  troops  were  stationed  at  Fort  Pitt,  Fortllaruiar,  Fori  Wash- 
ington,  Fort  Steuben,  (at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,)  and  at  P».?t  Vinceunes. — JIU,  Jjj<l. 


114-  HISTOET  OP  FORT  WATSTE. 

of  the  northwestern  territory,  that  I  am  induced  to  request  you  wil  J 
be  pleased  to  take  the  mattorinto  consideration,  and  give  me  the 
orders  you  may  think  proper.  It  is  not  to  be  expected,  sir,  that 
the  Kentucky  people  will  or  can  submit  patiently  to  the  cruelties 
and  depredations  of  those  savages.  They  are  in  the  habit  of  retali- 
ation, perhaps  without  attending  precisely  to  the  nations  iron 
Avhich  the  injuries  arc  received.  They  will  continue  to  retaliate,  or 
they  will  apply  to  the  governor  of  the  northwestern  territory 
(through  which  the  Indians  must  pass  to  attack  them)  for  redress, 
[f  he  can  not  redress  them,  (and  in  the  present  circumstances  he 
'-•annot,)  they  also  will  march  through  that  country  to  redress  them- 
selves, and  the  government  will  be  laid  prostrate.  The  United 
State,  on  the  other  hand,  are  at  peace  with  several  of  the  nations, 
and  should  the  resentment  of  these  people  [the  Kentuckians]  fall 
upon  any  of  them,  which  it  is  likely  enough  to  happen,  very  bad 
consequences  may  follow.  For  it  must  appear  to  them  [the  Indians] 
ihat  the  United  States  either  pay  no  regard  to  their  treaties,  or  thai 
they  arc  unable  or  unwilling  to  carry  their  engagement  into  effect. 
*  *  *  They  will  unite  with  the  hostile  nations,  prudently  pre- 
ferring open  war  to  a  delusive  and  uncertain  peace, ' 

Being  empowered,  by  an  act  of  Congress  of  the  29th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1789,  to  call  out  the  militia  of  the  several  States  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  frontier  settlements,  President  Washington,  on  the 
tith  of  Oct.,  1789,  addressed  Governor  St.  Clair  officially  as  follows : 

"It  is  higlxly  necessary  that  I  should,  as  soon  as  possible,  possess 
full  information  whether  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  Indians  are  most 
inclined  for  war  or  peace.  If  for  the  former,  it  is  proper  that  1 
should  be  informed  of  the  means  which  will  most  probably  induce 
them  to  peace.  If  a  peace  can  be  established  with  the  said  Indians- 
on  reasonable  terms,  the  interests  of  the  United  States  dictate  that 
it  should  be  effected  as  soon  as  possible.  Yon  will,  therefore,  in- 
form the  said  Indians  of  the  disposition  of  the  general  government 
on  this  subject,  and  of  their  reasonable  desire  that  there  should  be 
a  cessation  of  hostilities  as  a  prelude  to  a  treaty. 

"If,  however,  notwithstanding  your  intimations  to  them,  they 
should  continue  their  hostilities,  or  meditate  any  incursion  against 
the  frontiers  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  or  against  any  of  tlur 
troops  or  posts  of  the  United  States,  and  it  should  appear  to  you 
that  the  time  of  execution  would  be  so  near  as  to  forbid  your  trans- 
mitting the  information  to  me,  and  receiving  my  orders  thereon, 
then  you  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered,  in  my  name,  to 
call  on  the  lieutenants  of  the  nearest  counties  of  Virginia  and  Penn- 
sylvania for  snch  detachments  of  militia  as  you  may  judge  proper, 
not  exceeding,  however,  one  thousand  from  Virginia  and  live  hun- 
dred from  Pennsylvania.  *  *  *  The  said  militia  to  act  in  con- 
junction with  the  Federal  troops  in  such  operations,  offensive  or 
defensive,  as  yon  and  the  commanding  officer  of  the  troops,  con- 
jointly, shall  j  ml  •_*»•*  JU'CCRPJiry  for  the  publi"  service,  and  the  pro 


WASHINGTON'S  INSTRUCTIONS  to  Gov.  ST.  CLAIR.  115 

tection  of  the  inhabitants  and  the  posts.  The  said  militia,  while  in 
actual  service,  to  be  on  the  continental  establishment  of  pay  and 
rations ;  they  are  to  arm  and  equip  themselves,  but  to  be  furnished 
With  public  ammunition  if  necessary;  and  no  charge  for  the  pay  of 
said  militia  will.be  valid  unless  supported  by  regular  musters  made 
by  a  field  or  other  officer  of  the  Federal  troopa. 

"  I  would  have  it  observed,  forcibly,  that  a  war  with  the  Wabash 
Indians  ought  to  be  avoided  by  all  means  consistently  with  the  se- 
curity of  the  troops  and  the  national  dignity.  In  the  exercise  of  the 
present  indiscriminate  hostilities,  it  is  extremely  difficult,  if  not  im- 
possible, to  say  that  a  war  without  further  measures  would  be  just 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  But  if,  after  manifesting  clearly 
to  the  Indians  the  disposition  of  the  general  government  for  the 
preservation  of  peace  and  the  extension  of  a  just  protection  to  the 
said  Indians,  they  should  continue  their  incursions,  the  United  States 
will  be  constrained  to  punish  them  with  severity. 

"  You  will  also  proceed,  as  soon  as  you  can,  with  safetv,  to  exe- 
cute the  orders  of  the  late  Congress,  respecting  the  inhabitants  at 
Post  Vincennes,  and  at  the  Ivaskaskias,  and  the  other  villages  on 
the  Mississippi  It  is  a  circumstance  of  some  importance,  that  the 
said  inhabitants  should,  as  soon  as  possible,  possess  the  lands  to 
which  they  are  entitled,  by  some  known  and  fixed  principles." 

The  last  paragraph  of  the  foregoing  instructions  was  based  upon 
the  resolutions  of  Congress,  of  the  20th  June  and  29th  August, 
1T88.*  By  these  resolutions,  provisions  were  made  for  confirming 
in  their  possessions  and  titles  the  French  and  Canadian  inhabitants, 
and  other  settlers,  about  Kaekaslda  and  post  Vincennes,  who,  on  or 
before  the  year  1?83,  had  professed  themselves  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  or  any  of  them.  By  the  same  resolutions,  a  tract  of 
four  hundred  acres  of  land  Was  donated  to  each  head  of  a  family  of 
this  description  of  settlers.f 

About  the  1st  of  January,  1790,  Governor  St.  Clair,  with  the 
judges  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  territory,  descended  the  river 
Ohio,  from  Marietta  to  Fort  Washington,  at  Losantiville.  At  this 
place  the  governor  laid  out  the  county  of  Hamilton,  appointed 
magistrates  and  other  civil  officers  for  tlie  administration  of  justice 
in  that  county,  and  induced  the  proprietors  of  the  little  village  to 
change  its  name  from  Losantiville  to  Cincinnati*  On  the  8th  of 
January,  1?90,  St»  Clair  and  Winthrop  Sargent,  secretary  of  the 
territory,  arrived  at  Clarksville,  whence  they  proceeded  to  the  Illi- 
nois country,  to  organize  the  government  in  that  quarter,  and  to 
carry  into  etlect  the  resolutions  of  Congress  relative  to  the  lands 
and  settlers  about  Kaskaskia  and  Post  Vincennes.  Before  the 
governor  left  Clarksville,  however,  he  sent  to  Major  Hamtramck:, 
the  commanding  officer  at  Post  Vincennes,  dispatches  containing 
speeches  which  were  addressed  ty  the  Indian  tribes  on  the  AW 
bash.J 

*01d  >ToWrtaU,  vol.  i  v-.SJJl    ..-,)  >n;iiAr»  JIV>i<l. 

*";•'*••'»  cSWi  Tlmlou.  r1*1 


11C  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WATXE. 

Having  received  the  instructions  of  Gov.  St.  Clair,  after  the 
necessary  preparations,  Major  Hamtramck,  then  commanding  at 
Post  Viiicennes,  on  the  15th  of  April,  despatched  Antoine  Game- 
lin  from  that  point  with  the  speeches  of  St.  Clair  to  the  tribes  of 
the  Wabash.  Reaching  the  Indian  settlements,  Mr.  Gamelin  de- 
livered the  speeches  at  all  the  villages  bordering  this  stream,  and 
oame  as  far  eastward  as  the  Miami  village,  opposite  the  present 
site  of  Fort  Wayne.  The  following  is  the  journal  of  Gamelin,  much 
<>f  which  relates  to  his  conference  at  the  Miami  village  here;  and 
will  give  the  imaginative  Deader  quite  a  fair  view  of  the  spirit  of 
the  Miamies  at  this  point  at  that  period.  Says  the  journal  of  Gam- 
elin: 

"  The  first  village  I  arrived  to,  is  called  Kikapouguoi.  The  name 
of  the  chief  of  this  village  is  called  Les  Jambes  Croches.  Him 
nnd  his  tribe  have  a  good  heart,  and  accepted  the  speech.  Tlu> 
second  village  is  at  the  river  du  Vermillion,  called  Piankcshaws. 
The  first  chief  and  all  his  warriors,  were  well  pleased  with  the 
speeches  concerning  the  peace :  but  they  said  they  could  not  give 
presently  a  proper  answer,  before  they  consult  the  Miami  nation, 
their  eldest  brethren.  They  desired  me  to  proceed  to  the  Miami 
town,  (Ke-ki-ong-gay,)  and,  by  coming  back,  to  let  them  know 
what  reception  I  got  from  them.  The  said  head  chief  told  me  that 
lift  thought  the  nations  of  the  lake  had  a  bad  heart,  and  were  ill 
disposed  for  the  Americans :  that  the  speeches  would  not  be  re- 
ceived, particularly  by  the  Shawnees  at  Miamitown.  *  *  The 
llth  of  April,  I  reached  a  tribe  of  Kickapoos.  The  head  chief  and 
all  the  warriors  being  assembled,  I  gave  them  two  branches  of 
white  wampum,  with  the  speeches  of  his  excellency  Arthur  St. 
Olair,  and  those  of  Major  Hamtramck.  It  must  be  observed  that 
the  speeches  have  been  in  another  hand  befoie  me.  The  messen- 
ger could  not  proceed  further  than  the  Vermillion,  on  account  of 
some  private  wrangling  between  the  interpreter  and  some  chief 
men  of  the  tribe.  Moreover,  something  in  the  speech  displeased 
them  very  much,  which  is  included  in  the  third  article,  which  say.-;. 
4  Ido  now  make  you  the  offer  of  peace  :  accept  it,  or  reject  it,  ax 
you  please?  These  words  appeared  to  displease  all  the  tribes  to 
whom  the  first  me^fenger  was  sent.  They  told  me  they  were  men- 
acing; and  findingfhat  it  might  have  a  bad  effect,  I  took  upon  my- 
self to  exclude  them ;  and,  alter  making  some  apology,  they  an- 
red  that  he  and  his  tribe  were  pleased  with  my  speech,  and  that 
I  could  go  up  without  danger,  but  they  could  not  presently  ;.. 
me  an  answer,  having  some  warriors  absent,  and  without  consult- 
ing the  Ouiatenons,  being  the  owners  of  their  lands.  They  desired 
me  to  stop  at  Quitepiconnae,  [Tippecanoe,]  that  they  would  luivc 
fhe  chiefs  and  warriors  of  Ouiatenons  and  those  of  their  nation 
assembled  there,  and  would  receive  a  proper  answer.  They  said 
that  they  expected  by  me  a  draught  of  milk  from  the  great  chief, 
and  the  commanding  officer  of  the  post,  for  to  put  the  old  people 


G AMELIA'S  JOURNAL.  117 

in  good  humor ;  also  some  powder  and  ball  for  the  young  men  for 
hunting,  and  to  get  some  good  broth  for  their  women  and  children : 
that  I  should  know  a  bearer  of  speeches  should  never  be  with 
empty  hands.  They  promised  me  to  keep  their  young  men  from 
stealing,  and  to  send  speeches  to  their  nations  in  the  prairies  for  to 
do  the  same. 

"  The  14th  April  the  Ouiatenons  and  the  Kickapoos  were  assem- 
bled. After  my  speech,  one  of  the  head  chiefs  got  up  and  told  me 
4  You,  Gamelin,  my  friend  and  son-in-law,  we  are  pleased  to  see 
in  our  village,  and  to  hear  by  your  mouth,  the  good  words  of  the 
great  chief.  We  thought  to  receive  a  few  words  from  the  French 
people  ;  but  I  see  the  contrary.  None  but  the  Big  Knife  is  sending 
speeches  to  us.  You  know  that  we  can  terminate  nothing  without 
the  consent  of  our  brethren  the  Miamis.  I  invite  you  to  proceed 
to  their  village,  and  to  speak  to  them.  There  is  one  thing  in  your 
speech  I  do  not  like :  I  will  not  tell  of  it:  even  was  I  drunk,  I  would 
perceive  it:  but  our  elder  brethren  will  certainly  take  notice  of  it  in 
your  speech.  You  invite  us  to  stop  our  young  men.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  do  it,  being  constantly  encouraged  by  the  British.'  An- 
other chief  got  up  and  said — '  The  Americans  are  very  flattering  in 
their  speeches ;  many  times  our  nation  went  to  their  rendezvous.  I 
was  once  myself.  Some  of  our  chiefs  died  on  the  route ;  and  we 
always  came  back  all  naked:  and  you,  Gamelin,  you  come  with 
speech,  with  empty  hands.'  Another  chief  got  up  and  said  to  his 
young  men,  '  If  we  are  poor,  and  dressed  in  deer  skins,  it  is  our 
own  fault.  Our  French  traders  are  leaving  us  and  our  villages, 
because  you  plunder  them  every  day ;  and  it  is  time  for  us  to  have 
anuther  conduct.'  Another  .chief  got  up  and  said — '  Know  ye  that 
the  village  of  Ouiatenon  is  the  sepulcher  of  all  our  ancestors.  The 
chief  of  America  invites  us  to  go  to  him  if  we  are  for  peace.  He 
has  not  his  leg  broke,  having  been  able  to  go  as  far  as  the  Illinois. 
He  might  come  here  himself;  and  we  should  be  glad  to  see  him 
at  our  village.  "We  confess  that  we  accepted  the  ax,  but  it  is  by 
the  reproach  we  continually  receive  from  the  English  and  other  na- 
tions, which  received  the  ax  first,  calling  us  women  :  at  the  present 
time  they  invite  our  young  men  to  war.  As  to  the  old  people,  they 
are  wishing  for  peace.'  They  could  not  give  me  an  answer  before 
tli ey  receive  advice  from  the  Miamis,  their  elder  brethren. 

'"The  18th  April  I  arrived  at  the  river  a  1'Anguille,  [Eel  river.] 
The  chief  of  the  village,*  and  those  of  war  were  not  present.  I  ex- 
plained the  speeches  to  some  of  the  tribe.  They  said  they  were 
well  pleased ;  but  they  could  not  give  me  an  answer,  their  chief 
men  being  absent.  They  desired  me  to  stop  at  their  village  com- 
ing back;  and  they  sent  with  me  one  of  their  men  for  to  hear  the 
answer  of  their  eldest  brethren. 

"The  23d  April  I  arrived  at  the  Miami  town.f     The  next  day  I 

*The  site  of  this  village  is  on  the  north  side  of  Eel  river,  six  miles  above  the  point 
of  the  junction  of  this  stream  with  the  Wabash.  |At  this  point. 


US  llisioKV  OF  JJ'OKT 

o-ot  the  Miami  nation,  the  Shawanees,  and  Delawarcsall  assembled. 
1  gave  to  each  nation  two  branches  of  wampum,  and  began  the 
speeches,  before  the  French  and  English  traders,  being  invited  by 
the  chiefs  to  be  present,  having  told  them  myself  I  would  be  glad 
to  have  them  present,  having  nothing  to  say  against  any  body.  Af- 
ter the  speech,  I  showed  them  the  treaty  concluded  at  Muskingum, 
[Fort  Harmar,]  between  his  excellency,  Governor  St.  Clair,  and 
sundry  nations,  which  displeased  them.  I  told  them  that  the  pur- 
pose of  this  present  time  was  not  to  submit  them  to  any  condition, 
but  to  offer  them  the  peace,  which  made  disappear  their  displeas- 
ure. The  great  chief  told  me  that  he  was  pleased  with  the  speech ; 
that  he  would  soon  give  me  an  answer.  In  a  private  discourse  with 
the  great  chief,  he  told  me  not  to  mind  what  the  Shawanees  would 
tell  me,  having  a  bad  heart,  and  being  the  perttibators  of  all  the  na- 
tions. He  said  the  Miamis  had  a  bad  name,  on  account  of  the  mis- 
chief done  on  the  rirer  Ohio ;  but  he  told  me,  it  was  not  occasioned 
by  his  young  men,  but  by  the  Shawanees ;  his  young  men  going 
out  only  for  to  hunt. 

"The  25th  of  April,  Blue  Jacket,  chief  warrior  of  the  Shawanees, 
invited  me  to  go  to  his  house,  and  told  me — 'My  friend,  by  the 
name  and  consent  of  the  Sljawanees  and  Delawares,  I  will  speak  to 
you.  We  are  all  sensible  of  your  speech,  and  pleased  with  it : 
but,  after  consultation,  we  can  not  give  an  answer  without  hearing 
irom  our  father  at  Detroit;  and  we  are  determined  to  give  you  back 
the  two  branches  of  wampum,  and  to  send  you  to  Detroit  to  sec  and 
hear  the  chief,  or  to  stay  here  twenty  nights  for  to  receive  his  an- 
swer. From  all  quarters  we  receive  speeches  from  the  Americans, 
and  not  one  is  alike.  We  suppose  that  they  intend  to  deceive  us. 
Then  take  back  your  branches  of  wanfpum.' 

"  The  26th,  live  Pottawattamies  arrived  here  with  two  negro 
men,  which  they  sold  to  English  traders.  •  The  next  day  I  went  to 
the  great  chief  of  the  Miamis,  called  Le  Gris.  His  chief  warrior 
was  present.  I  told  him  how  I  had  been  served  by  the  Shawan- 
ees. He  answered  me  that  he  had  heard  of  it :  that  the  said  nations 
behaved  contrary  to  his  intentions.  He  desired  me  not  to  mind 
those  strangers,  and  that  he  would  soon  give  me  a  posi:ive  answer. 
"The  28th  of  April,  the  great  chief  desired  me  to  call  at  the 
French  trader's  and  receive  his  answer.  'Don't  take  bad,'  said  he, 
'  of  what  I  am  to  tell  you.  You  may  go  back  when  you  please.  We 
can  not  give  you  a  positive  answer.  We  must  send  your  speeches 
to  all  our  neighbors,  and  to  the  lake  nations.  We  can  not  give  a  defi- 
nitive answer  without  consulting  the  commandant  at  Detroit.'  And 
he  desired  me  to  render  him  the  'two  branches  of  wampum  refused 
by  the  Shawanees ;  also  a  copy  of  speeches  in  writing.  He  prom- 
ised me  that,  in  thirty  nights,  he  would  send  an  answer  to  Post  Vin- 
cennes  by  a  young  man  of  each  nation.  He  was  well  pleased  witli 
the  speeches,  and  said  to  be  worthy  of  attention,  and  should  bo 
communicated  to  all  their  confederates,  Jtaviny  resolved  amoiiy 


G  AMELIA'S    JOURNAL.  119 

iJicm'iiot  do  anything  without  a  unanimous  consent.  I  agreed  to 
his  requisitions,  and  rendered  him  the  two  branches  of  wampum 
and  a  copy  of  the  speech.  Afterward  he  told  me  that  the  Five  Na- 
tions, so  called,  or  Iroquois,  were  training  something;  that  five  of 
them,  and  three  Wyandotts,  were  in  this  village  with  branches  of 
wampum.  He  could  not  tell  me  presently  their  purpose,  but  he  said 
I  would  know  of  it  very  soon. 

"  The  same  day  Blue  Jacket,  chief  of  the  Shawanees,  invited  me 
to  his  house  lor  supper ;  and,  before  the  other  chiefs,  told  me  that, 
after  another  deliberation,  they  thought  necessary  that  I  should  go 
myself  to  Detroit  for  to  see  the  commandant,  who  would  get  all  his 
children  assembled  to  hear  my  speech.  I  told  them  I  would  not 
answer  them  in  the  night ;  that  I  was  not  ashamed  to  speak  before 
the  sun.  , 

"  The  29th  of  April  I  got  them  all  assembled.     I  told  them  that  1 
was  not  to  go  to  Detroit ;  that  the  speeches  were  directed  to  the  na- 
tions of  the  river  Wabash  and  the  Miami ;  and  that,  for  to  prove  the 
sincerity  of  the  speech,  and  the  heart  of  Governor  St.  Clair,  I  have 
willingly  given  a  copy  of  the  speeches  to  be  shown  to  the  com- 
mandant of  Detroit ;  and,  according  to  a  letter  wrote  by  the  com- 
mandant of  Detroit  to  the  Miamis,  Shawanees,  and  Delawares,  men- 
tioning to  you  to  be  peaceable  with  the  Americans,  I  would  go   to 
him  very  willingly,  if  it  was  in  my  directions,  being  sensible  of  his 
sentiments.     I  told  them  I  had  nothing  to  say  to  the  commandant; 
neither  him  to  me.     You  must  im mediately  resolve,  if  you  intend 
to  take  me  to  Detroit,  or  else  I  am  to  go  back  as  soon  as  possible. 
Blue  Jacket  got  up  and  told  me, '  My  friend,  we  are  well  pleased 
with  what  you  say.     Our  intention  is  not  to  force  you  to  go  to  De- 
troit.    It  is  only  a  proposal,  thinking  it  for  the  best.     Our  answer 
is  the  same  as  the  Miamis.     We  will  send,  in  thirty  nights,  a  full. 
;.ind  positive  answer  by  a  young  man  of  each  nation  by  writing  to 
Post  Vincennes.'     In  the  evening,  Blue  Jacket,  chief  of  the  Shaw- 
anees, having  taken  me  to  supper  with  him,  told  me,  in  a  private 
manner,  that  the  Shawanee  nation  was  in  doubt  of  the  sincerity  of 
the  Big  Knives,  so  called,  having  been  already  deceived  by  them. 
That  they  had  first  destroyed  their  lands,  put  out  their  fire,  and 
.sent  away  their  young  men,  being  a  hunting,  without  a  mouthful 
of  meat;  also  had  taken  away  their  women — wherefore,  many  of 
them  would,  with  a  great  deal  of  pain,  forget  these  affronts.  More- 
over, that  some   other  nations  were  apprehending  that  offers  of 
peace  would,  may  be,  tend  to  take  away,  by  degrees,  their  lands, 
and  would  serve  them  as  they  did  before  :  a  certain  proof  that  they 
intend  to  encroach  on  our  lands,  is  their  new  settlement  on  the  Ohio. 
If  they  doirt  keep  this  side  [of  the  Ohio]  clear,  it  will  never  be  a 
proper  reconcilement  with  the  nations  Shawanees,  Iroquois,  Wy- 
andotts,  and  perhaps  many  others.     Le  Gris,  chief  of   the  Miamis, 
asked  me,  in  a  private  discourse,  what  chiefs  had  made  a  treaty 
with  the  Americans  at  Muskingdiua  [Fort  Harmar]?     I  answered 


120  HISTORY  OF   FoitT 

him  tli.-it  their  names  were  mentioned  in  the  treaty.  He  told  me 
he  had  heard  of  it  some  time  ago  ;  but  they  are  not  chiefs,  neither 
delegates,  who  made  that  treaty — they  are  only  young  men  who, 
without  authority  and  instructions  from  their  chiefs,  have  con- 
cluded that  treaty,  which  will  not  be  approved.  They  went  to  tin- 
treaty  clandestinely,  and  they  intend  to  make  mention  of  it  in  the 
next  council  to  be  held. 

"The  2d  of  May  I  came  back  to  the  river  a  PAnguille.  One  of 
the  chief  men  of  the  tribe  being  witness  of  the  council  at  Miami 
town,  repeated  the  whole  to  them ;  and  whereas,  the  lirst  chief  was 
absent,  they  said  they  could  not  for  the  present  time  give  answer, 
but  they  were  willing  to  join  their  speech  to  those  of  their  eldest 
brethren.  '  To  give  you  proof  of  an  open  heart,  we  let  you  know 
i  hat  one  of  our  chiefs  is  gone  to  war  on  the  Americans ;  but  it  was 
before  we  heard  of  you,  for  certain  they  would  not  have  been  gone 
thither.'  They  also  told  me  that  a  few  days  after  I  passed  their  vil- 
lage seventy  warriors,  Chippewas  and  Ottawas,  from  Michilimaci- 
nac,  arrived  there.  Some  of  them  were  Pottawattamies,  who,  meet- 
ing in  their  route  the  Chippewas  and  Ottawas,  joined  them.  '  We 
told  them  what  we  heard  by  you  ;  that  your  speech  is  fair  and  true. 
We  could  not  stop  them  from  going  to  war.  The  Pottawattamies 
told  us  that,  as  the  Chippewas  and  Ottawas  were  more  numerous 
than  them,  they  were  forced  to  follow  them.' 

"  The  3d  of  May  I  got  to  the  Weas.  They  told  me  that  they 
were  waiting  for  an  answer  from  their  eldest  brethren.  'We  ap- 
prove very  much  our  brethren  for  not  to  give  a  definitive  answer, 
without  informing  of  it  all  the  lake  Nations;  lhat  Detroit  was  the 
place  where  the  fire  was  lighted ;  then  it  ought  first  to  be  put  out 
there ;  that  the  English  commandant  is  their  father,  since  he  threw 
down  our  French  father.  They  could  do  nothing  without  his  ap- 
probation.' 

"The  4th  of  May  I  arrived  at  the  village  of  the  Kickapoos.  The 
chief,  presenting  me  two  branches  of  wampum,  black  and  white, 
said:  'My  son,  we  can  not  stop  our  young  men  from  going  to  Avar. 
Every  day  some  set  off  clandestinely  for  that  purpose.  After  such 
behavior  from  our  young  men,  we  are  ashamed  to  say  to  the  great 
chief  at  the  Illinois  and  oi  the  Post  Vincennnes,  that  we  are  busy 
about  some  good  affairs  for  the  reconcilement ;  but  be  persuaded 
lhat  we  will  speak  to  them  continually  concerning  the  peace ;  and 
lhat,  when  our  eldest  brethren  will  have  aent  their  answer,  we  will 
join  ours  to  it.' 

"The  f»th  of  May  I  arrived  at  Vermillion.  I  found  nobody  but 
two  chiefs ;  all  the  rest  were  gone  a  hunting.  They  told  me  they 
had  nothing  else  to  say  but  what  I  was  told  going  up." 

Gov.  St.  Clair  being  at  Kaskaskia,  in  the  fore  part  of  the  month 
of  June  of  this  year,  (1700)  received  from  Major  Hamtrarack  the 
following,  bearing  date,  "  Post  Vincennes,  May  Slid,  1790:"  "I 
now  inclose  the  proceedings  of  Mr.  Gamclin,  by  which  your  excel- 


THE  MAN-EATING  SOCIETV — FOKSYTH'S  ACCOUNT.  121 

leiK'y  can  have  no  great  hopes  of  bringing  the  Indians  to  a  peace 
with  the  United  States.  The  8th  of  May,  Gamelin  arrived,  and  on 
the  llth  some  merchants  arrived  and  informed  me  that,  as  soon  as 
Gamelin  had  passed  their  villages  on  his  return,  all  the  Indians 
had  gone  to  war ;  that  a  large  party  of  Indians  from  Michilemac- 
inac,  and  some  Pottawattamies,  had  gone  to  Kentucky ;  and  that 
three  days  after  Gamelin  had  left  the  Miami  (village — here)  an 
American  was  brought  there  and  burnt.3'* 

*  According  to  the  statement  of  chief  Riebardville,  Mr.  Peltier,  and  others,  says  Mr. 
J.L.  Williams,  in  his  researches,  page  11,  "  Historical  Sketcli  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Fort  Wayne/'  "the  extreme  point  of  land  just  below  the  mouth  of  "the  Si. 
Joseph,  now  so  attractive  in  rural  peaceful  beauty,  is  said  to  have  been  the  accustomed 
place  for  burning  prisoners."  Some  years  ago,  chief  llichardville  also  pointed  out  a, 
spot,toan  old  citizen  of  Fort  Wayne,  lying  near  Mr. . T.  S.  Mason's  line,  a  fewrods  from  a 
grave-yard  on  the  west  side  of  the  Bluffton  Plank  Road,  where  he  said  a  Kentuckian 
had  been  burned  by  the  Indians  sometime  during  1812.  This,  as  the  reader  is  already 
aware,  being  long  a  familiar  and  beloved  spot,  not  only  with  the  Miamies,  but,  many 
other  friendly  tribes,  to  hold  and  maintain  it,  they  seem  to  have  early  devised  many 
plans  and  means  of  security,  both  against  their  enemies  of  other  savage  tribes  anil 
the  whites,  at  different  periods.  At  a  very  early  time,  the  Miarnies  were  called  and 
familiarly  known  among  the  tribes  of  the  country  as  "  LIXNEWAYS,  "  or"  MIXXKWAYS," 
which,  as  with  the  name  MEXO.MEXIES,  signified  MKX.  As  a  means  of  terror  to  their 
enemies,  the  Minneways  or  Miamies  had  early  formed  here  what  was  commonly 
known  as  a  "  man-eating  society, "  which,  to  make  it  the  more  fearful  to  their  oppo- 
nents, was  firmly  established  on  a  hereditary  ba*is,  confined  to  one  family  alone,  whoso 
descendants  continued  to  exercise,  by  right  of  descent,  the  savage  rites  and  duties  of 
the  man-eating  family.  One  Major  Thomas  Forsyth,  who  lived  tor  a  period  of  more 
than  twenty  years  among  the  Sauks  and  Fox  Indians,  in  a  written  narration  of  these 
two  tribes,  first  published  in  Drake's  "  Life  of  Black  Hawk,"  as  early  as  1838,  said  : 
"  More  than  a  century  ago,  all  the  country,  commencing  above  Rock  river,  and  run- 
ning down  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  up  that  river  to  the  mouth  of  the 
"VVahash,  thence  up  that  river  to  Fort  Wayne,  thence  down  the  Miami  of  the  Lake 
some  distance,  thence  north  to  the  St.  Joseph's  and  Chicago;  also  the  country  lying 
south  of  the  Dts  Moines,  down  perhaps,  to  the  Mississippi,  wa«  inhabited  by  a  numer- 
ous nation  of  Indians,  who  called  themselves  Linneway,  and  were  called  by  others, 
Minneway,  signifying  "  men."  This  great  nation  was  divided  into  several  hands,  and 
inhabited  different  parts  of  this  extensive  region,  as  follows  :  The  Michigamies,  the 
country  south  of  the  DCS  Moincs  ;  the  Cahokias  that  east  of  Hie  present  village  of  Ca- 
hokia  in  Illinois  ;  the  Kaskaskias  that  east  of  the  town  of  that  name  ;  the  Tamaroi.s 
had  their  village  nearly  central  between  Cahokia  andKaskaskia  ;  the  Piankeshaws  near 
Yincennes  ;  the  Weas  up  the  Wabash  ;  the  Miamies  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Miami 
of  the  Lakes,  on  St.  Joseph's  river  and  at  Chicago.  The  Piankeshaws,  Weas  and  Mi- 
amies, must  at  this  time  have  hunted  south  towards  and  on  the  Ohio.  The  Peorias, 
another  band  of  the  same  nation,  lived  and  hunted  on  the  Illinois  river  :  The  Mascos 
or  Mascimtins,  called  by  the  French  GEXS  DES  PRARIES,  lived  and  hunted  on  the  greai, 
prairies,  between  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  rivers.  All  these  different  bands  of  tho 
Minneway  nation,  spoke  the  language  of  the  present  Miamies,  and  the  whole  consid- 
ered themselves  as  one  and  the  same  people  ;  yet  from  their  local  situation,  andhaving 
no  standard  to  go  by,  their  language  becarne"broken  up  into  different  dialects.  These 
Indians,  the  Minneways,  were  attack r-d  by  a  general  confederacy  of  other  nations,  such 
as  the  Sauks  and  Foxes,  resident  at  Green  Bay  and  on  the  Ouisconsin  ;  the  Sioux, 
whose  frontiers  extended  south  to  the  river  des  Moines  :  the  Chippewavs,  Ottowavs, 
and  Potawatimies  from  the  lakes,  and  also  the  Cherokees  and  Choctaws  from  the  south. 
The  war  continued  for  a  great  many  years  and  until  that  great  nation  the  Minneways 
were  destroyed,  except  a  few  Miamies  and  Weas  on  the  Wabash,  and  a  few  who  are 
scattered  among  strangers.  Of  the  Kaskaskias,  owing  to  their  wars  and  their  fondness 
for  spirituous  liquors,  there  now  (1626)  remain  but  thirty  or  forty  souls  : — of  the  Peo- 
rias nea*  St.  Genevieve  ten  or  fifteen  ;  of  the  Piankeshaws  forty  or  fifty.  The  Miam- 
ies are  the  most  numerous  ;  a  few  years  ago  they  consisted  of  about  four  hundred  souls. 
There  do  not  exist  at  the.  present  day  (1626)  more  than  five  hundred  souls  of  the  once 
great  and  powerful  Minneway  or  Illin't  nation.  These  Indians,  the  Minneways,  arc- 
said  to  have  been  very  cruel  totlscir  prisoners,  not  '-.infrequently  burning  them.  I  have 


"HlSTOUY    OF    I'oKT 

Being  readily  induced  to  believe,  from  the  dispatches  received 
from  Hamtramck,  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  forming  a  treaty 
of  peace  with  the  Miarnie  Indians  and  other  tribes  banded  with 
them,  Governor  St.  Ciair  determined  to  return  to  Fort  Washington 
(Cincinnati,)  with  a  view  of  consulting  with  General  ITarmnr  as  to 
the  expediency  of  an  expedition  against  the  hostile  tribes;  and, 
accordingly,  on  the  llth  of  Jnne,  he  quit  Kaskaskia,  and  by  water, 
reached  Fort  Washington  on  the  13th  of  July. 

Having  consulted  with  General  Harrnar,  and  concluding  to  so  nd 
a  formidable  force  against  the  Indians  about  the  head  waters  of  the 
Wabash,  by  authority  of  President  Washington,  on  the  lot'u  of 
July  (1700,)  ho  addressed  circular  letters  to  a  number  of  Lieuten- 
ants of  the  western  counties  (of  Virginia,  of  which  Kentucky  was 
then  a  part)  and  Pennsylvania,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  one  thou- 
sand militia  in  the  former,  and  five  hundred  in  the  latter.  The  regu- 
lar troops  then  in  service  in  the  west  General  Harmar  estimated 
at  about  four  hundred  efficient  men,  with  whom  the  militia  wciv  tu 
operate  as  follows :  Of  the  Virginia  militia,  300  were  to  rendr/- 
vous  at  Fort  Steuben,  and,  with  a  garrison  at  that  post,  to  proceed 
to  Vinceunes,  to  join  Major  Hamtramck,  who  had  orders  to  call  to 
his  aid  the  militia  of  that  place.  From  thence  to  move  up  the  W;1.- 
bash,  with  a  view  of  attacking  such  points  among  the  Indian  vil- 
lages along  that  river  as  his  force  might  seem  adequate.  Tho  twelve 
hundred  militia  remaining  were  to  join  the  regular  troops,  under 
General  Harmar,  at  Fort  Washington.  That  the  British  command- 
ant at  Detroit  might  know  the  true  cause  and  course  of  the  move- 
ment, on  the  IDth  of  September,  Gov.  St.  Clair  addressed  a  letter  to 
him,  which  he  sent  by  a  private  conveyance,  assuring  the  said  com- 

heard  of  a  certain  family  among  the  Miamies  who  wore  called  man  -caters,  as  they  wore 
accustomed  to  make  a  feast  of  human  flesh  when  a  prisoner  was  killed.  For  t-h'-se  enor 
milieu,  the  Sauks  and  Foxes,  when  they  took  any  of  the  Minncuavs  prisom-rs,  gave 
them  up  to  their  women  to  be  buffeted  to  death.  *  They  speak  also  of  the  iiaseoiitins 
with  abhorrence,  on  account  of  their  cruelties.  The  Sauks  and  Foxes  have  a  historical 
legned  of  a  severe  battle  having  been  fought  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa  river, 
about  fifty  or  sixty  miles  above  the  month  of  Rock  rivcrr  The  Sauks  and  Foxes  de- 
scended the  Mississippi  in  canoes,  and  landing  at  the  place  above  described,  started 
«-nst,  towards  the  enemy  :  they  had  not  gone  far  before  they  were  attacked.  by  u  Mirty 
«>f  the  Maseon»in».  The  baltle  continued  nearly  all  day  ;  the  Sauks  and  V<>.\..s,  f<ir 
want  of  ammunition,  finally  gave  way  and  fled' to  thcir'canoes  :  the  Mascontins  pur- 
sued them  and  fought  desperate!}-,  and  left  but  few  of  the  Sauks  and  Foxes  to  carry 
home  the  story  «  f  their  <M<>at.  'Some  forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  the  Sauks  ami  Fox--  ,r 
tncked  a  small  village  of  Peorias,  about  a  mile  below  St.  Louis  and  were  there  defeated. 
At  a  place  on  the  Illinois  river,  called  Little  Rock,  there-  were  formerly  killed  by  I!P- 
Chippoways  and  Ottowas,  a  number  of  men,  women  and  children  of  "the  Minm-way 
nation.  In  1WM)  the  Kickapoos  made  a  great  slaughter  of  the  Kaskaskia  lii'!ia;is.  Th'c 
Main-Posrue,  or  Potawatimie  juggler,  in  1801,  killed  a  great,  manv  of  the-  Piankeshaw, 
on  the  WubaMi." 

In  proof  of  the  foregoing,  relative  to  the  society  of  man-eaters  among  the  Indians  at 
tins  point,  General  I.vwi*  Oass,  in  a  speech  here,  delivered  at  the  eanal  celebration  <.f 
July  4th  iy43,in"SwinneyV.  (.-trove."  near  the  site  of  the  prosant  Catholic  cemetery,  said: 

"  I'nr  many  years  during  the  frontier  history  of  this  place  and  r;  uic:i,  ti><-  lin--  of  your 
canal  wad  a  bloody  war-path,  which  has  seen  many  a  deed  of  horror.  And  this  peaceful 
town  has  hod  itg  Moloch,  and  the  records  of  human  depravity  furnish  no  more  terrible 
examples  of  cruelty  than  wen;  offered  at  his  shrine.  The  Miami  Indians,  our  prede- 
cessors in  the  occupation  of  this  district,  had  a  terrible  institution  whose  ori-in  and 


ACCOUNT — Giix.  CASS'  ADDKESS. 

mandant  that  the  purposes  of  the  United  States  were  pacific  in  so 
far  as  their  relations  to  Great  Britain  were  concerned  ;  that  the  ex- 
pedition was  to  quell  the  vindictive  and  intolerable  spirit  of  the  In- 
dians towards  the  settlements,  whither  and  against  whom  they  had 
so  long,  so  inhumanly,  and  destructively  carried  their  savage  war- 
fare. 

That  the  English,  towards  Lake  Erie,  notwithstanding  this  spirit 
of  candor  and  courtesy  on  the  part  of  St.  Glair,  gave  aid  to  the 
Indians  in  their  efforts  against  the  United  States  during  1700-'91, 
the  evidence  is  clear  enough ;  but  to  what  extent,  was  not  fully 
known.  The  following  paragraphs  from  a  certificate  of  one  Thomas 
Rhea,  taken  in  the  early  part  of  1700,  will  give  some  clue,  at 
least,  as  to  the  aid  then  and  subsequently  rendered  the  Indians  by 
the  British : 

"  At  this  place,  tha3fiami"  said  Rhea,  in  his  account,"  were  Col- 
onels Brant*  and  McKee,  with  his  son  Thomas;  and  Captains  Bun- 
bury  and  Silvie,  of  the  British  troops.  These  officers,  &c.,  were 
all  encamped  on  the  south  side  of  the  Miami  or  Ottawa  river,  at 
the  rapids  above  Lake  Erie,  about  eighteen  miles;  they  had  clever 
houses,  built  chiefly  by  the  Potawattamies  and  other  Indians ;  in 
these  they  had  stores  of  goods,  with  arms,  ammunition  and  provis- 
ion, which  they  issued  to  the  Indians  in  great  abundance,  viz:  corn, 
pork,  peas,  &c. 

*  Brant  was  a  Mohawk  chieftain,  of  considerable  intelligence,  educated  at  Philadel- 
phia ;  a  favorite  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  and  ever  greatly  attached  to  the  British. — 
After  the  struggles  of  these  periods,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Canada,  where  he  died 
in  1807. 

object  have  been  lost  in  the  darkncsg  of  aboriginal  history,  but  which  was  continued 
to  a  late  period,  and  whose  orgies  were  held  upon  the  very  spot  where  we  now  are.  It 
•was  called  the  man-eating  society,  and  it  was  the  duty  of  its  associates  to  eat  such  pris- 
oners as  were  preserved  and  delivered  to  them  for  that  purpose.  The  members  of  this 
societyjbelonged  to  a  particular  familj,  and  the  dreadful  inheritance  descended  to  all 
the  children,  male  and  female.  The  duties  it  imposed  could  not  be  avoided,  and  tho 
sanctions  of  religion  were  added  to  the  obligations  of  immemorial  usage.  The  feast 
was  a  solemn  ceremony,  at  which  the  whole  tribe  was  collected  as  actors  or  spectators. 
The  miserable  victim  was  bound  to  a  stake,  and  burned  at  a  slow  firs,  with  all  the  re- 
finements of  cruelty,  which  savage  ingenuity  could  invent.  There  -was  a  traditionary 
ritual,  which  regulated  with  revolting  precision,  the  whole  course  of  procedure  at  these 
ceremonies  Latterly  the  authority  and  obligations  of  the  institution  had  declined, 
and  I  presume  it  has  now  wholly  disappeared.  But  I  have  seen  and  conversed  with 
the  head  of  the  family,  the  chief  of  the  society,  whose  name  was  White  Skin — with 
what  feeling  of  disgust,  I  need  not  attempt  to  describe.  I  well  knew  an  intelligent 
Canadian,  who  was  present  at  one  of  the  last  sacrifices  made  at  this  horrible  institution. 
The  victim  Avas  a  young  American  captiued  in  Kentucky,  towards  the  close  of  our 
Revolutionary  War.  Here  where  we  are  now  assembled,  in  peace  and  securil y,  celebra- 
ting the  triumph  of  art  and  industry,  within  the  memory  of  the  present  generation, 
our  countrymen  have  been  thus  tortured,  and  murdered,  and  devoured.  But,  thank 
God,  that  council-fire  is  extinguished.  The  impious  feast  is  over  ;  the  -war-dance  is 
ended  ;  the  war-song  is  sung  :  the  war-drum  is  silent,  and  the  Indian  has  departed  to 
find,  I  hope,  in  the  distant  West,  a  comfortable  residence,  and  I  hope  also  to  find,  un- 
der the  protection,  and,  if  need  be,  under  the  power  of  the  United  States,  a  radical 
chancre  in  the  institutions  and  general  improvement  in  his  morals  and  condition.  A 
feeble  remnant  of  the  once  powerful  tribe,  which  formerly  won  their  way  to  the  do- 
minion of  this  region,  by  blood,  and  by  blood  maintained  it.  have  to-day  appeared 
among  us  like  passing  shadows,  flitting  round  the  places  that  know  them  no  more. 
Their  resurrection,  if  I  may  sospeak,is  not .the  least  impressive  spectacle,  which  marks  the 
progress  of  this  imposing  ceremony.  They  are  the  broken  column  which  connect  us  with 


124  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYKE. 

"  Tlio  Indians  came  to  this  place  in  parties  of  one,  two,  three, 
four  and  five  hundred  at  a  time,  from  different  quarters,  and  re- 
ceived from  Mr.  McKee  and  the  Indian  officers,  clothing,  arms,  am- 
munition, provisions,  &c.,  and  set  out  immediately  for  the  upper 
Miami  towns,  -where  they  understood  the  forces  of  the  United  States 
were  bending  their  course,  and  in  order  to  supply  the  Indians  from 
other  quarters  collected  there,  pirogues,  loaded  with  the  above- 
mentioned  articles,  Avere  sent  up  the  Miami  (Maumee)  river,  wrought 
by  French  Canadians." 

About  the  middle  of  September,  the  Virginia  militia  began  to 
gather  about  the  mouth  of  Linking  river,  opposite  Cincinnati,  all 
of  whom  were,  for  the  most  part,  badly  armed  and  lacked  for  eainp- 
kettles  and  axes;  but  were  readily  organized  bj  General  Harmar, 
and  soon  formed  into  three  battalions,  under  Majors  Hall,  McMul- 
len,  and  Raj*,  with  Trotter,  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  to  lead  them. 
About  the  24th  of  September,  came  the  militia  of  Pennsylvania  to 
Fort  Washington,  who  were  also  badly  equipped,  and  many  of 
whom  were  substitutes — "old,  intirm  men,  and  young  boys." 
These  were  formed  into  one  battalion,  under  Lieut-Colonel  Truby 
and  Major  Paul;  while  four  battalions  of  militia,  subject  to  Gen- 
eral Harmar's  command,  were  commanded  by  Col.  John  Hardin. 
Majors  John  Plasgrave  Wylles,  and  John  Doughty  commanded  the 
regular  troops,  in  two  small  battalions.  The  artilcry  corps,  with 
but  three  pieces  of  ordinance,  was  under  the  command  of  Captain 
William  Ferguson ;  while  under  James  Fontaine  was  placed  a 
small  battalion  of  light  troops  or  mounted  militia — amounting  in 
all  to  about  1,453  regular  and  raw  militia  troops. 

The  militia  under  Col.  Hardin,  on  the  26th  of  September,  ad- 
vanced from  Fort  Washington  into  the  country,  for  the  double  pur- 
pose of  opening  a  road  for  the  artillery  and  to  obtain  feed  for  their 
cattle.  On  the  30th  of  September,  the  regular  troops  marched, 
commanded  by  General  Harmar;  and  on  the  3d  day  of  October 
joined  the  militia. 

A  journal  of  the  daily  movements  of  the  army  was  regularly 
kept  by  Captain  John  Armstrong,  of  the  regulars,  up  to  its  arrival 
at  the  Miami  village,  at  this  point. 

After  an  uninterrupted  march  of  sixteen  days,  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  15th  of  October,  Colonel  Hardin,  with  an  advanced  detach- 
ment, reached  this  point,  and  stole  in  upon  the  Miami  village,  only 

the  past.  The  edifice  is  in  ruins,  and  thegiant  vegetation,  which  covered  and  protected 
it,  lies  as  low  as  the  once  mighty  structure,  which  was  shelved  in  its  recesses.  They 
have  come  to  witness  the  first  great  act  of  peace  iu  onr  frontier  history,  a*  their  presence 
hire  M  th«  last  in  their  own.  The  ceremonies  upon  which  you  hc-ivt- .fore  "uzcd  with 
interest,  will  never  again  be  seen  by  the  white  man,  in  this  seat  of  1  !i«-ir  former  power. 
5ut  thanks  to  our  ascendancy,  these  reptv sentalions  arc  but  a  page:nt ;  but  a  theatrical 
exhibition  which,  with  barbarous  motion*,  and  sounds  and  contortions,  shew  how  their 
ancestors  conquered  their  enemies,  and  how  they  glutted  their  revenge  in  blood.  To- 
•  liiy,  this  Itstof  the  race  is  here— to-morrow  they  w:ll  commence  their  journey  towards 
the  setting  sun,  whcr*  their  fathers,  agreeable  to  th«  ir  rr.de  faith,  have-  preceded  tlivm 
and  where  the  red  man  will  find  rest  and  safety.'' 


ARMY  UNDER  HARMAR  ARRIVE  HERE — AN  ORDER.          125 

to  find  it  deserted  by  men,  women  and  children.  A  few  cows,  some 
vegetables,  and  about  twenty  thousand  bushels  of  corn  in  the  ear, 
save  the  wigwams,  huts,  and  surrounding  scenery,  were  all  that 
greeted  them ;  and  the  militia,  in  much  disorder,  soon  began  to 
move  about  in  search  of  plunder. 

On  the  iTth,  about  one  o'clock,  the  main  body  of  the  army  came 
up  and  crossed  the  Maumee  to  the  village. 

Major  McMnllen,  of  Col.  Hardin's  command,  having  discovered 
the  tracks  of  women  and  children  leading  in  a  north-westerly  di- 
rection,  and  so  reported  to  General  Harmar  on  his  arrival,  the  lat- 
ter determined  at  once  upon  an  effort  to  discover  their  place  of  ren- 
dezvous; and,  to  that  end,  on  the  morning  of  the  18th,  detailed  Col. 
Trotter,  Major  Hall,  Major  ."Ray,  and  Major  McMullea,  with  three 
hundred  men,  among  whom  were  thirty  regulars,  forty  light-horse, 
and  two  hundred  and  thirty  active  riflemen.  Furnished  with  three 
days'  provision,  they  were  ordered  to  reconnoiter  the  country  around 
the  village.  About  one  mile  from  the  encampment,  an  Indian  on 
horseback  was  discovered,  pursued,  and  killed,  by  a  part  of  the 
detachment,  under  Trotter ;  and  before  returning  to  the  main  body 
of  the  party,  another  Indian  was  seen,  "when  the  four  field  officers 
left  their  commands,  and  pursued  him,  leaving  the  troops  for  the 
ppace  of  about  half  an  hour  without  any  direction  whatever."  Be- 
ing intercepted  by  the  light-horsemen,  one  of  which  party  he  had 
wounded,  the  Indian  was  at  length  killed.  Changing  the  route  of 
his  detatchment,  and  moving  in  different  directions,  till  night,  Col. 
Trotter  again,  unexpectedly  to,  and  without  the  approbation  of  Gen- 
eral Harmar,  returned  to  the  Miami  village. 

In  consequence  of  the  disorderly  course  of  the  militia  on  their 
arrival  at  the  village,  in  their  desire  for  plunder,  General  Harmar 
ordered  cannon  to  be  fired  for  the  purpose  of  calling  tkern  to  their 
ranks,  and  also  harangued  the  officers  on  the  bad  results  liable  to 
follow  such  indifference.  On  the  18th  lie  issued  the  following  gen- 
eral order : 

"  CAMP  AT  THE  MIAMI  VILLAGE,  Oct.  18,  1790. 

"  The  general  is  much  mortified  at  the  unsoldier-like  behavior  of 
many  of  the  men  in  the  army,  who  make  it  a  practice  to  straggle 
from  the  camp  in  search  of  plunder.  He,  in  the  most  positive 
terms,  forbids  this  practice  in  future,  and  the  guards  will  be  an- 
swerable to  prevent  it.  No  party  is  to  go  beyond  the  line  of  senti- 
nels without  a  commissioned  officer,  who,  if  of  the  militia,  will  ap- 
ply to  Colonel  Hardin  for  his  orders.  The  regular  troops  will  ap- 
ply to  the  general.  All  the  plunder  that  may  be  hereafter  collec- 
ted, will  be  equally  distributed  among  the  army.  The  kettles,  and 
every  other  article  already  taken,  are  to  be  collected  by  the  com- 
manding officers  of  batalions,  and  to  be  delivered  to-morrow  morn- 
ing to  Mr.  Belli,  the  quartermaster,  that  a  fair  distribution  may  take 
place.  The  rolls  are  to  be  called  at  troop  and  retreat  beating,  and 


126  HISTORY  OF  FORT   WAYNE. 

every  in. in  absent  is  to  bo  reported.  Tlic  general  expects  that  these 
orders  will  be  pointedly  attended  to :  they  are  to  be  read  to  the  troops 
this  evening.  The  army  is  to  march  to-morrow  morning  early  for 
their  new  encampment  at  'Chillicothe,*  about  two  rnilcs  from  hence. 
"  JOSIAH  HARMAft  BRIGADIER-GENERAL." 

Col.  Hardin,  haying  asked  for  the  command  of  the  troops  returned 
to  camp  under  Trotter,  far  the  remaining  two  days,  Gen.  Harmar 
readily  complied;  and  on  the  next  day,  (1 9th)  Col.  Hardin  led  the  de- 
tachment along  an  Indian  trail  to  the  northwest,  in  the  direction  of 
the  Kickapoo  villages.  Coming  to  a  point,  near  a  morass,  some  livo 
miles  distant  from  the  confluence  of  the  St,  Mary  and  St.  Joseph 
rivers,  where,  on  the  preceding  day,  there  had  been  an  Indian  en- 
campment, the  detachment  came  to  a  halt,  and  were  soon  stationed 
ut  different  points,  in  readiness  for  an  attack,  should  tke  enemy 
still  be  near.  A  half  hour  passed,  and  no  sign  of  the  enemy.  Tho 
order  now  being  given  to  the  companies  in  the  front  to  advance, 
the  company  under  Faulkner,  not  having  received  the  order  of 
march,  a  neglect  on  the  part  of  CoL  Hardin,  was  left  behind.  Hav- 
ing advanced  some  three  miles,  two  Indians  afoot,  with  packs,  were 
discovered ;  but,  the  brush  being  thick,  and  suddenly  throwing 
aside  their  burdens  at  the  sight  of  the  detachment,  were  soon  lost 
night  of  and  escaped.  The  absence  of  Faulkner  at  this  time  be- 
coming apparent,  Major  Fontaine,  with  a  portion  of  the  cavalry, 
Was  at  once  sent  in  pursuit  of  him,  with  the  supposition  that  he  was 
lost. 

The  report  of  a  gun,  in  front  of  the  detachment,  soon  fell  upon 
the  attentive  ear  of  Captain  Armstrong,  in  command  of  the  regu- 
lars— an  alarm  gun,  perhaps,  suggested  he.  He  had  discovered  the 
"  tracks  of  a  horse  that  had  come  down  the  road  and  returned." 
'Hit-Be  facts  were  readily  conveyed  to  the  ear  of  Colonel  Hardin. 
Captain  Armstrong  now  observed  the  Urea  of  the  Indians — they 
Were  only  discernible  in  the  distance.  Caution  was  large  in  tho. 
ROU!  of  Armstrong.  Hardin  thought  the  Indians  would  not  light, 
and  moved  forward,  in  the  direction  of  the  fires,  neither  giving  or- 
ders or  preparing  for  an  attack.  The  little  army  of  three  hundred 
wore  now  strangely  separated — they  wore  in  the  forest,  several 
miles  from  camp.  The  enemy  were  in  ambush^were  numerous! 
•—and  Me-che-cannah-quah,— Little  Turtle— was  their  loader.  Har- 
din continued  to  advance,  and  the  columns  moved  forward  in  obe- 
dience to  orders.  Behind  the  fires  lay  the  red  men,  hidden  from 
view,  with  guns  leveled.  Steadily  the  broken  detachment  moved 
forward,  under  the  intrepid  control  of  their  commander  ;  and  no 
sooner  had  they  approached  the  fires  than  a  terrible  volley  was 
opened  upon  them  from  behind  the  smoking  entrenchments.'  The 
shock  was  sudden — the  columns  were  unprepared  for  it.  The  mi- 

"A  Shnwanoe  village. 

t.  ^1'ho"8'1*  b}r  K01"®  to  have  1)e°n  a«  many  as  seven  hundred— by  others  only  about,  one 
hundred.     Tli«  locality  <>f  tins  engagement  Was  near  Eel  ftivrr.  about  the  [mint 
the  G.wlien  BUte  Road  crosses  this  stream,  now  known  a*  "  Hell.V*  Corners." 


DEFEAT  OF  A  DETACHMENT — MIAMI  VILLAGE  DESTEOYED.        1 27 

litia  were  panic  stricken,  and  all  but  nine  broke  the  ranks  and  be- 
gan a  precipitate  flight  for  the  camp  of  Gen.  Harmar.  Hardin  had 
retreated  with  them,  and  in  vain  strove  to  rally  them.  The  reso- 
lute  regulars  bravely  iaced  the  enemy,  and  returned  the  fire.  The 
nine  remaining  militia  were  pierced  by  the  balls  of  the  enemy,  and 
twenty-two  of  the  regulars  fell,  while  Captain  Armstrong,  Ensign 
Hartshorn,  and  some  five  or  six  privates,  alone  made  their  escape, 
and  reached  the  camp  again  at  the  village.  The  victory  was  with 
the  Indians,  and  the  retreating  columns  all  reached  the  camp  of 
liarmer  without  further  loss. 

Having,  after  the  departure  of  Hardin  and  the  detachment  in 
the  morning,  destroyed  the  Miami  village,  Harmar,  in  the  mean- 
time, had  moved  about  two  miles  down  the  Maumee,  to  the  Shaw- 
anoe  village,  known  as  Chillicothe,  and  on  the  20th  issued  the 
following  orders : 

'"  CAMP  AT  CiiiLUco'niE,  one  of  the  Shawanese  towns,  ) 
Oil,  ikfi  Omee  \Maumee\  river,  Oct.  20th,  1700.      j 

"  The  party  under  command  of  Captain  Strong  is  ordered  to 
burn  and  destroy  every  house  and  wigwam  in  this  village,  together 
with  all  the  corn,  etc.,  which  he  can  collect.  A  party  of  one  hun- 
dred men  (militia),  properly  officered,  under  the  command  of  Col. 
Hardin,  is  to  burn  and  destroy  effectually,  this  afternoon,  the  Pick- 
away  town,*  with  all  the  corn,  etc.,  which  he  can  find  in  it  and  its 
vicinity. 

"  The  cause  of  the  detatchment  being  worsted  yesterday,  was  en- 
tirely owing  to  the  shameful,  cowardly  conduct  of  the  militia,  who 
ran  away,  and  threw  down  their  arms,  without  firing  scarcely  a- 
single  gun.  In  returning  to  Fort  Washington,  if  any  officer  or  men 
presume  to  quit  the  ranks,  or  not  to  march  in  the  form  that  they 
are  ordered,  the  general  will  most  assuredly  order  the  artillery  to 
fire  on  them.  He  hopes  the  check  they  received  yesterday  will 
make  them,  in  future  obedient  to  orders." 

"  JOSIAII  HARMAK,  BRIGADIER-GENERAL." 

From  the  scene  of  the  yet  smoking  and  charred  remains  of  the 
Indian  village  of  Chillicothe,t  at  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
21st,  the  army  under  Harmar  took  up  its  line  of  march  towards  Fort 
Washington,  and  proceeded  about  seven  miles,  when  a  halt  was 
made,  and  the  army  encamped  for  the  night. 

The  evening  was  clear  and  beautiful — one  of  those  glorious 
raghts  in  the  month  of  October,  when  the  stars,  all  in  harmony,  with 
no  clouds  intervening  between,  the  earth  and  the  ^etherial  blue  to 

*A  ShaWanoc  village. 

f'l'he  scene  of  this  village,  sonie'two  miles  below  Fort  "Wayne,  on  the  Maumee,  •was 
about  the  site  of  the  residence  *>f  Mrs.  Phelps.  Says  Mr.  J.  W.  Di\  «-son.  in  his  research 
es,  concerning  the  history  of  Fort  Wayne,  •'  from  Judge  Colin jn,  who  settled  on  the 
1'ai'in  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Phelps,  in  1827,  we  learn  that  every  evidence  of  former  cul- 
tivation of  the  ground  there,  was  seen  ;  there  being  no  timber  growing,  evidences  of 
ancient  building,  of  gardening,  such  as  asparagus,  etc.;  and  almi  there  found  many 
bayonets,  gun-barrels,  knives,  pack-Bfufdle  frames,  Ac." 


128  HISTOEY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

shut  out  their  joyous  example,  seem  to  twinkle  a  heavenly  anthem 
to  the  sombre  hues  and  waneing  aspects  of  Autumn.  No  stealthy 
tread  was  heard — no  savage  form  was  to  he  seen — the  whoo-whoo, 
wh-o-o  of  the  night-owl ;  the  careful  movement  of  the  sentinel ;  the 
mingled  voices  of  the  soldiery,  and  the  falling  leaves,  rustling 
through  the  branches  to  the  earth,  were  all  the  sounds  that  fell 
upon  the  attentive  ears  of  Harmar  and  his  army. 

Looking  thus  out  upon  the  stillness  and  beauty  of  the  night,  a 
thought  had  stolen  upon  the  mind  of  Colonel  Hardin.  His  am- 
bition— his  desire  for  the  chastisement  of  the  Indian — -was  by  no 
means  appeased.  The  Miamies  had  perhaps  returned  to  the  village 
immediately  after  the  departure  of  the  army,  thought  he  ;  and  a 
most  propitious  opportunity  was  presented  to  return  and  "steal  :i 
march  upon  them."  Thus  imbued,  he  readily  imparted  his  feelings 
to  General  Harmar — -urging  "  that,  as  he  had  been  unfortunate  the 
other  day,  ho  wished  to  have  it  in  his  power  to  pick  the  militia  and 
try  it  again."  lie  sought  to  explain  the  cause  of  the  militia  not 
meeting  the  [ndians  on  the  l!Hh ;  and  insisted  that  he  then  wished 
to  retrieve  their  course,  The  earnest  demeanor  of  Hardin  prevailed. 
Ilarmer  gave  his  consent.  The  commanding  general  was  anxious 
that  the  Indians  should  be  as  well  subdued  as  possible,  that  they 
might  riot  give  the  army  trouble  on  its  return  march  to  Fort  Wash- 
ington ;  and,  as  the  night  advanced,  amid  the  stillness  of  the  scene 
about  them,  with  a  body  of  three  hundred  and  forty  militia,  and 
sixty  regulars  under  Major  Wyllys,  with  a  view  of  advancing  upon 
llic  Miami  village  before  daylight,  and  thus  be  enabled  the  more 
effectually  to  surprise  the  Indians,  the  force  took  up  its  line  of 
march  in  three  columns,  the  regulars  in  the  centre,  and  the  militia 
to  the  right  and  left.  Captain  Joseph  Ashton  moved  at  the  head 
of  the  regulars,  while  Major  Wyllys  and  Colonel  Hardin  were  in 
his  front.  Contrary  to  expectations,  some  delay  having  occurred 
by  the  halting  of  the  militia,  the  banks  of  the  Maumee  were  not 
gained  till  after  sunrise.  Indians  were  now  soon  discovered  by  the 
Bpies,  at  the  announcement  of  which,  Major  Wyllys  called  the  reg- 
ulars to  a  halt,  and  ordered  the  militia  on  to  a  point  in  front,  and 
presented  his  plan  of  attack  to  the  commanding  olficers  of  the  de- 
tachment. Major  Wyllys  reserving  to  himself  the  command  of  the 
regulars,  Major  Hall  was  directed,  with  his  battalion,  to  move  cir- 
cuiitously  round  the  bend  of  the  Maumee,  crossing  the  St.  Mary's 
and,  in  the  rear  of  the  Indians,  to  halt  until  an  attack  should  be 
made  "by  Major  McMullen's  battalion,  Major  Fontaine's  cavalry, 
and  the  regular  troops  under  Major  Wyllys,  who  were  all  ordered 
to  cross  the  Maumee  at  and  near  the  common  fording  place,  which 
was  about  ormosite  t.lui  rpRirlonr-p  nF  Mr  J  .T  f 'nrniwmf  *  "Rmvlin 


was  about  opposite  the  residence  of  Mr.  J.  J.  Comparet.*     Hardin 

•Among  the  wounded  in  this  engagement,  there  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  John 
Smith,  who,  during  the  engagement,  with  several  others  fell  in  the  river.  He  had  re- 
«-<-ived  n  .-ever.-  wound,  and,  asa  menus  of  safety,  had  remained  quiet  until  all  had 
left,  when  h.-  cirawi-d  to  the  bank  of  the  river  and  concealed  h  impel  f  until  some  time 
during  the  night.  \Vhi-M  all  sf.-onied  still,  h<-  cautiously  left  his  hidding  place,  movod 


BURIAL  PLACE  OF  MAJORS  WYLLYS,  FONTAINE,  AND  OTHERS.     129 

&nd  "Wyllys  had  aimed  to  surround  the  Indians  in  their  encamp- 
ment; but  Major  Hall,  having1  reached  his  position  unobserved, 
disregarded  the  orders  given  by  firing  upon  a  single  Indian  that 
appeared  in  sight  before  the  general  attack  was  made.  The  report 
from  the  point  of  Hall's  battalion  had  startled  the  Indians,  and 
small  squads  of  them  were  seen  hurrying  away  in  many  directions, 
rapidly  pursued,  contrary  to  orders,  by  the  militia  under  MeMul- 
len,  and  tho  cavalry  under  Fontaine,  leaving  AVyl^ys,  at  the  head 
of  the  regulars,  without  support,  and  who,  crossing  the  Maumee. 
were  attacked  by  a  superior  body  of  Indians,  under  the  lead  of  Lit- 
tle Turtle,  and  at  length,  after  the  fall  of  Wyllys  and  the  largest 
portion  of  the  regular  troops,  were  forced  to  retreat.  Major  Fon- 
taine, at  the  head  of  the  mounted  militia,  in  a  charge  upon  a  small 
body  of  Indians,  with  a  number  of  his  men  were  killed,*  while  the 
remainder  sought  safety  in  retreat.  In  the  meantime,  while  the 
regulars  were  engaged  with  the  party  under  Little  Turtle,  the  mili- 
tia under  Hall  and  McMullen,  at  the  confluence  of  the  St.  Mary 
and  St.  Joseph,  were  briskly  engaged  in  combating  small  parties 
of  Indians  ;  but  soon  retreated  after  the  defeat  of  the  regulars,  hav- 
ing killed  and  wounded  many  of  the  red  men,  who  made  no  at- 
tempt to  follow  them,  in  their  rapid  march  towards  the  main  body 
under  Harmar,  A  single  horseman  having  reached  the  camp  of 
the  main  army,  about  11  o'clock,  a.  m.,  Harmarat  once,  upon  learn- 
ing the  news  of  the  defeat  of  the  detachment,  ordered  Major  Ray, 
with  his  battalion,  to  advance  to  the  aid  of  the  retreating  forces. 
But  the  effect  of  the  panic  on  the  militia  was  too  great — 'but  thirty 
men  could  be  prevailed  on  to  advance  to  the  rescue  under  Major 
Ray,  who  had  advanced  but  a  short  distance,  when  they  were  met 
by  Hardin  and  the  retreating  forces  under  him.  Gaining  the  en- 
campment, Colonel  Hardin,  flushed  with  excitement,  and  still  en- 
tertaining a  strong  desire  to  carry  his  point  against  the  Indians, 
urged  Harmar  to  set  out  at  once,  with  the  entire  force,  for  the  Mi- 

*Tho  remains  of  Majors  Wyllys  and  Fontaine,  with  some  eight  other  officers  and  val- 
iant men  who  fell  on  the  occasion,  were  buried  in  some  trenches,  near  the  banks  of  the 
Maumee,  some  twenty  rods  below  the  residence  of  J.  J.  Comparet,  Esq.  The  inden- 
tations on  either  side  of  the  Maumee,  just  below  Mr.  Comparet's  dwelling, still  exhibits 
to  the  stranger  the  fatal  ford  where  so  many  brave  men  fell,  and  whose  blood  reddened 
the  stream. 

down  t.he  Maumee  a  short  distance,  and  made  his  escape,  reaching  Fort  Washington 
in  safety,  and  recovered  from  his  wounds.  When  Wayne's  army  came  here,  this  man 
Smith  came  with  it,  and  ever  after  lived,  and,  some  years  ago,  died  here,  Mrs.  Sutten- 
field,  whose  name  is  already  familiar  to  the  reader,  informed  the  writer  that  Smith 
lived  for  two  years  in  her  family,  and  many  times  heard  him  relate  his  adventures  and 
narrow  escape  from  the  Indians  on  the  occasion  in  question.  The  Indians  being  in 
amlmsh,  along  the  banks  of  the  Maumee,  both  above  and  below,  at  the  time  Hartnar's 
men  began  to  move  over  the  river,  a  cross  fire  was  opened  upon  them  by  the  Indians, 
and  a  large  number  fell  in  the  river,  rendering  the  Water,  which  was  not  then  deep 
enough  to  cover  the  bodies,  quite  bloody,  so  much  so,  that  Smith,  though  Very  dry, 
would  not  drink  it.  When  it  grew  dark,  the  Indians,  none  of  whom  had  pursued  the 
retreating  forces,  came  to  the  river,  and  began  to  strip  tile  bodies,  exulting  greatly 
over  their  victory.  In  describing  the  noise  they  made  while  thus  engaged,  Smifli  who 
was  still  concealed,  said  their  voices  ".lOiindfld  lilf  the  chattering  of  a  parcel  of  bla<'k 
birds,"  (9) 


130  HISTORY  OF  FOBT  WAYNE. 

;imi  village  again.  But  Harmar  would  not  venture  a  return.  Said 
he :  "  You  see  the  situation  of  the  army :  we  are  now  scarcely  able 
to  move  our  baggage :  it  will  take  up  three  days  to  go  and  return 
to  this  place :  we  have  no  more  forage  for  our  horses  :  the  Indians 
have  got  a  very  good  scourging ;  and  I  will  keep  the  army  in  per- 
fect readiness  to  receive  them,  should  they  think  proper  to  follow."* 

The  militia  had  now  become  little  better  than  wooden  men  in 
the  eyes  of  General  Harmar.  He  had  lost  all  faith  in  them,  and 
began  at  once  to  narrow  the  bounds  of  the  camp.  A  second  defeat 
and  retreat  were  complete ;  and  without  further  attempt  to  move 
upon  the  Indians,  on  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  October,  after  a  loss 
of  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  killed,  and  thirty-one  wounded,  the 
army  again  took  up  its  line  of  march  for  Fort  Washington,  whither 
it  arrived  on  the  4th  of  November,  having  met  with  no  further  at- 
tack or  trouble  with  the  Indians  after  the  movement  of  the  22dT 
about  and  near  the  ruins  of  the  Miami  village. 

Among  the  names  of  the  killed  during  the  efforts  of  the  army 
in  this  campaign,  were  Major  Wyllys  and  Lieutenant  Ebenezer 
Frothingham,  of  the  regulars ;  Major  Fontaine,  Captains  Thorp, 
MrMurtrey,  and  Scott,  Lieutenants  Clark  and  Rogers,  and  Ensigns- 
Bridges,  Sweet,  Higgins,  and  Thielkeld,  of  the  militia.  The  loss- 
on  the  part  of  the  Indiana  was  thought  to  be  about  equal  that  of 
the  forces  un^er  Harmar. 

Taming  our  attention  to  the  expedition  of  Major  Hamtramck,. 
who,  as  the  reader  will  remember,  had  moved  from  Vincennes  tip 
the  Wabash,  we  find  that  while  Harmar  was  moving  upon  the 
Miami  village  at  this  point,  and  destroying  the  villages,  corn,  etc., 
of  the  Indians  in  the  region,  the  former  had  proceeded  with 
his  command  to  the  mouth  of  Vermillion  river,  and  laid  waste 
several  deserted  villages,  returning  again  to  Vincennes,  uninter- 
rupted in  his  efforts. 

The  campaigns  of  1790,  against  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest, 
were  now  closed,  and  the  chilling  blasts  of  another  long,  dreary 
winter,  with  its  anxieties,  its  hardships,  and  its  perils,  had  begun 
to  set  in  about  the  sparse  and  lonely  settlements  of  the  west, 

•Deposition  of  IJurdin,  Sept.  14, 1791. 


CHAPTER  XL 

"  Those  western  Pioneers  an  impulse  felt, 

Which  their  less  hardy  sons  scarce  comprehend  ; 
AAotte,  in  Nature's  wildest  scenes  they  dwelt ; 

****** 
And  fought  with  deadly  strife  for  every  inch  of  ground." 

F.  W.  THOMAS. 

Effect  of  the  movement  of  Gen.  Harmar — Hostilities  renewed  by  the  Indians — Opposi- 
tion to  the  Militia — Petition  of  the  settlers— Increase  of  the  regular  army — Ap- 
pointment of  Gen.  St.  Clair — Preparations  for  another  movement  against  the  Mi- 
ami village  here— Instructions  of  the  Secretary  of  War—Expedition  of  Gen.  Scott 
• — A.  second  expedition  from  Kentucky — Gen.  Wilkinson's  account  of  the  same — 
Effect  of  these  expeditions'-^What  the  Indians  believed — Organization  of  an  In- 
dian confederacy — British  influence — Simon  Girty— Mrs.  Suttenfield's  recollec- 
tions— Treaty  of  1783 — British  disregard  of  it—Army  under  St.  Clair  move  for 
this  point-'-U  nfavorable  weather,  <fcc.— --The  army  reach  the  site  of  the  present 
town  of  Fort  Recovery— Approach  of  winter-^The  army  encamp  for  the  night — 
Indians  on  the  alert— Preparations  for  an  early  move  next  morning — Sudden  and 
furious  attack  by  the  Indians—Militia  give  way — Great  consternation— St.  Glair's 
account— Great  slaughter— 'Officers  nearly  all  killed--- Artillery  silenced — Retreat 
the  only  hope,  which  is  effected — Horses  nearly  all  killed — Cannon  left  behind — 
Main  road  gained — Guns,  knapsacks,  &c.,  strewn  for  miles  along  the  road — Rout 
'continued  for  29  miles — Statement  of  the  killed,  wounded,  <fcc- — Many  women  had 
follc-wed  the  expedition — terrible  Treatment  by  the  Indians — B.  Van  Cleve'a  a<s- 
«o«nt— A  new  order  of  things  the  only  hope  of  the  wests 


INDIANS,  though  much  effected  by  the  campaign  of  Har- 
Itnar,  both  in  the  destruction  of  their  villages  and  the  loss  of 
} considerable  numbers  of  their  braves  in  the  skirmishes  with 
the  troops  at  this  point  and  near  Eel  river,  were  yet  much 
"  elated  at  the  departure  of  Harmar,  and  so  much  did  they  es- 
teem it  a  success  on  their  part,  that  they  renewed  their  attacks 
•on  the  frontier  with  increased  force  and  ferocity.  Meetings  were 
called  to  devise  means  for  defending  the  settlements.  The  policy 
•of  employing  regular  officers  to  command  militia  was  denounced, 
and  petitions  were  extensively  circulated,  praying  the  President  to 
employ  militia  only  in  defeiace  of  the  frontier,  and  offering  to  raise 
a  sufficient  force  to  e&fry  the  war  immediately  into  the  Indian 
country."* 
The  prayer  •oit  the  petitioners,  however,  was  not  granted,  but  the 


133  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYSE. 

President  readily  favored  the  increase  of  the  regular  army  on  the 
frontier,  and  appointed  General  St.  Clair  to  the  command.  Ener- 
getic  measures  were  adopted  to  furnish  him  with  arms,  stores,  &c., 
for  an  early  campaign ;  but  the  difficulties  and  delays  incident  to- 
furnishing  an  army,  so  far  removed  from  military  depots ,  with  can- 
non, ammunition,  provisions,  and  the  means  of  transportation,  were 
so  great,  that  much  time  was  lost  before  General  St.  Clair  was  able 
to  move  his  army  from  Fort  Washington ;  and  then  it  was  Paid  to 
be  in  obedience  to  express  orders,  and  against  his  own  judgment, 
as  he  was  neither  provided  with  sufficient  force,  nor  the  means  of 
transportation. 

It  was  on  the  od  of  March,  1791,  that  Congress  passed  the  "act 
for  raising  and  adding,  another  regiment  to  the  militia  establish- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  for  making  further  provision  for  the 
protection  of  thp  frontier,"  An  army  of  some  three  thousand 
troops  was  proposed  to  be  placed  under  the  command  of  General 
Arthur  St.  Clair.  On  the  21st  of  March,  ('91),  the  following  in- 
structions were  addressed,  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  Gen.  Henry 
Knox,  to  General  St.  Clair ;  which  shows  with  what  importance  the 
possession  of  this  point  was  still  held,  and  in  which  President 
Washington,  doubtless,  wielded  a  large  share  of  influence.  Said 
the  Secretary ;  "  ^hile  you  are  making  use  of  such  desultory  oper- 
ations as  in  your  judgment  the  occasion  may  require,  you  will  pro- 
ceed vigorously,  in  every  preparation  in  your  power,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  the  main  expedition  ;  and  having  assembled  your  force,  and 
all  things  being  in  readiness,  if  no  decisive  indications  of  peace 
should  have  been  produced,  either  by  the  messengers  or  by  the 
desultory  operations,  you  will  commence  your  march  for  the  Mi- 
ami village,  in  order  to  establish  a  strong  and  permanent  military 
post  at  that  place,  [n  your  advance  you  will  establish  such  posts 
of  communication  with  Fort  Washington,  on  the  Ohio,  as  you  may 
judge  proper.  The  post  at  the  Miami  village  is  intended  for  awing 
and  curbing  the  Indians  in  that  quarter,  and  as  the  only  preventive 
of  future  hostilities.  It  ought,  therefore,  to  be  rendered  secure 
against  all  attempts  and  insults  of  the  Indians.  The  garrison  which 
should  be  stationed  there  ought  not  only  to  be  sufficient  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  place,  but  ahvnys  to  afford  a  detachment  of  five  or  six 
hundred  men,  either  to  chastise  any  ot  the  Wabash  or  other  hostile 
Indians,  or  to  secure  any  convoy  of  provisions.  The  establishment 
of  said  post  is  considered  as  an  important  object  of  the  campaign, 
and  is  to  take  place  in  all  events.  In  case  of  a  previous  treaty,  the 
Indians  are  to  be  conciliated  upon  this  point  if  possible  ;  and  it  is 
presumed  good  arguments  may  be  offered  to  induce  their  acquies- 
cence. *  *  Having  commenced  your  march  upon  the  main 
expedition,  and  the  Indians  continuing  hostile,  you  will  use  every 
possible  exertion  to  make  thorn  feel  the  effects  of  your  superiority; 
and,  after  having  arrived  at  the  Miami  village,  and  put  your  works 
in  a  defensible  State,  you  will  seek  the  enemy  with  the  whole  of 


SCOTT'S  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  THE  WEA  TOWNS.  133 

your  remaining  force,  and  endeavor,  by  all  possible  means  to  strike 
them  with  great  severity.  *  *  *  In  order  to  avoid  future  wars, 
it  might  be  proper  to  make  the  Wabash,  and  thence  over  to  the 
Maumee,  and  down  the  same  to  its  month  at  lake  Erie,  the  bound- 
ary [between  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  the  Indians],  ex- 
cepting so  far  as  the  same  should  relate  to  the  Wyandots  and  Dela- 
wares,  on  the  supposition  of  their  continuing  faithful  to  the  treat- 
ies. But  if  they  should  join  in  the  war  against  the  United  States, 
and  your  army  be  victorious,  the  said  tribes  ought  to  be  removed 
without  the  boundary  mentioned." 

On  the  9th  of  March,  some  days  before  instructions  were  ad- 
dressed to  General  St.  Clair,  Genrral  Knox,  had  communicated 
similar  instructions  to  Brigadier-General  Scott,  of  Kentucky,  to 
move,  with  a  sufficient  body,  against  the  We  a,  or  Ouiatenon  towns* 
on  the  Wabash.  Accordingly  on  the  2yd  of  May,  following,  u  with 
a  force  of  about  eight  hundred  mounted  and  armed  men,"  Scott 
"  crossed  the  Ohio,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  river,"  and  took 
up  his  line  of  march  for  Ouiatenon,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  first 
of  June,  after  a  most  disagreeable  march  of  over  150  miles,  through 
rain  and  storm,  and  the  encounter  of  many  obstacles,  they  succeed- 
ed in  reaching  and  surprising  the  village  of  Ouiatenon,  which,  with 
other  towns,  the  growing  corn,  &c.,  in  the  region,  were  soon  a'fter 
destroyed,  and  thirty  Indians,  mostly  warriors,  killed,  and  fifty- 
eight  taken  prisoners;  from  whence,  without  the  loss  of  a  man,  and 
but  six  wounded,  on  the  14th  of  June,  they  started  on  their  re- 
turn march  for  the  rapids  of  the  Ohio.  On  the  4th  of  the  month, 
while  at  the  Ouiatenon  towns,  Scott  gave  the  Indians  a  written 
speech,  in  which  he  assured  them  of  the  pacific  and  humane 
feelino-g  of  the  United  States  government  towards  them,  in  view  of 
their  becoming  peaceable  and  quiet  in  their  future  relations  with 
the  government  and  people  of  the  country. 

Scarcely  had  Gen.  Scott  and  his  corps  of  mounted  men  returned 
to  Kentucky,  when  General  St.  Clair  addressed  a  letter  to  the  board 
of  war  of  the  district  of  Kentucky,  authorizing  them  to  send  a  sec- 
ond expedition  of  five  hundred  men  up  the  Wabash.  Readily  com- 
plying with  this  request,  on  the  5th  of  July,  at  Danville,  Brigadier- 
General  James  Wilkinson  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
second  expedition,  and  ordered  to  be  in  readiness  at  Fort  Washing- 
ton by  the  20th  of  July  with  the  number  of  men  specified,  "well 
mounted  on  horseback,  well  armed,  and  provided  with  thirty  days' 
provisions."  Accordingly,  on  the  first  of  August,  with  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  men,  Wilkinson  left  Fort  Washington,  moving, 
by  way  of  feint,  in  the  direction  of  the  Miami  village,  at  this  point, 
and  soon  brought  up  at  the  Indian  town  of  Ke-na-pa-com-a-qua,  on 
the  north  bank  of  Eel  river,  about  six  miles  from  the  present  town 
of  Logansport.  After  cutting  up  the  corn,  then  in  the  milk,  and 

*Situated  on  the  soiith  side  of  the  rivei1,  about  eight  miles  below  the   present  sito  of 
Lafayette.     The  site  of  the  old  village  of  Ouiatonon  is  now  known  as  "  Won  T'laine." 


lliSTOKY  OF  FOKT  WAYJKE. 

burning  the  cabins  the  next  morning,  set  out  for  the  Indian  towns 
beyond.  Striking  the  village  of  Tippecarioe  on  the  route,  it  in  turn, 
with  the  growing  corn,  was  destroyed  ;  and  advancing  to  one  of  the 
Kickapoo  towns,  it  too  with  considerable  corn,  were  burned  and 
cut  down.  Moving  on,  the  same  day,  to  the  town  of  Ouiatenon,  the 
same  destroyed  by  General  Scott  in  June,  and  where  the  corn  had 
been  replanted,  and  which  had  now  gained  considerable  growth, 
was  cut  down  again ;  and  from  here,  striking  the  trail  of  Scott, 
they  took  up  the  line  of  march  for  the  rapids  of  the  Ohio,  where 
they  arrived  on  the  21st  of  August,  after  a  inarch  of  some  four 
hundred  and  fifty-one  miles,  "without  any  mateiial  incident/' 

In  his  report,  General  Wilkinson  said :  "  The  volunteers  of  Ken- 
tucky have.,  on  this  occasion,  acquitted  themselves  with  their  usual 
good  conduct;  but,  as  no  opportunity  offered  for  individual  distinc- 
tion, it  would  be  unjust  to  give  one  the  plaudits  to  which  they  all 
have  an  equal  title.  *  *  *  *"  But,  sir,  when  you  reflect  on 
the  causes  which  checked  my  career  and  blasted  my  designs,  I  flat- 
ter myself  you  will  believe  everything  has  been  done  which  could 
be  done  in  my  circumstances.*  I  have  destroyed  the  chief  town  of 
the  Ouiatenon  nation,  and  made  prisoners  of  the  sons  and  sisters  of 
the  King:  I  have  burned  a  respectable  Kickapoo  village,  and  cut 
down  at  least  four  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  corn,  chiefly  in  the 
milk.  The  Ouiatenons,  (Weas)  left  without  houses,  home,  or  pro- 
visions, must  cease  to  war,  and  will  find  active  employ  to  subsist 
their  squaws  and  children  during  the  impending  winter." 

The  principal  design  of  the  campaigns  of  Generals  Scott  and 
Wilkinson  was  that  of  weakening  the  strength  of  the  Indians  of  the 
Wabash  country,  with  a  view  to  giving  material  aid  to  General  St. 
Olair  in  his  approaching  campaign  against  the  Miamies  of  Ke-ki- 
on-ga  and  the  region  here ;  but  an  opposite  effect  was  the  result. 
From  formerly  having  entertained  the  belief  that  the  Americans 
designed  to  despoil  them  of  their  lands,  and  destroy  the  whole  In- 
dian race,  after  these  and  the  former  efforts  of  General  Harmar, 
the  Indians  of  the  northwest,  still  instigated  by  the  English,  began 
now  most  fully  to  believe  that  such  was  truly  their  design  ;  and  in- 
stead of  slackening  their  efforts  or  ceasing  to  make  war  upon  the 
Americans,  the  Miamies  and  Shawanoes,  more  espescially,  began 
to  call  to  their  aid  a  numerous  body  of  warriors  from  the  surround- 
ing tribes  of  the  Pottuvrattamies,  Kickapoos,  Delawares,  Ottawas, 
Wyandotts,  and  other  tribes  of  the  northwest ;  "  and  while  Gen.  St. 
Clair  was  making  preparations  to  establish  a  military  post  at  tho 
Miami  village,  tho  Miami  chief,  Little  Turtle,  the  Shawanoe  chief, 
Blue  Jacket,  and  the  Delaware  chief,  Buck-on ir-a-helas,  were  ac- 
tively engaged  in  an  effort  to  organize  a  confederacy  of  tribes  suffi- 
ciently powerful  to  drive  the  white  settlers  from  the  tenitory  lying 

•The  difficult  march*-*  through  swamps,  thickets,  <tc..  had  iani'-d  and  vorn    dmvn 
fome  two  hundred  nnd  ^verity  horses,  \vilh  other  impodimeulfl,  which    made  it  diiii 
cult  to  tako  further  actioii. 


TREATY  OF  1783— SIMON  GIRTY.  135 

on  the  northwestern  side  of  the  river  Ohio" — receiving  aid  and 
counsel  "from  Simon  Girty,*  Alexander  IVlcKee,  Mathew  Elliott, 
(the  latter  two  the  sub-agents  in  the  British  Indian  department), 
and  from  a  number  of  British,  French,  and  American  traders  who 
generally  resided  among  the  Indians,  and  supplied  them  with  arms 
and  ammunition,  in  exchange  for  furs  and  peltries." 

It  will  here  be  proper  to  notice  that  although,  at  the  definitive 
treaty  of  1783,  between  the  colonial  government  of  America  and 
Great  Britain,  it  was  declared  in  the  seventh  article  of  that  docu- 
ment that  the  King  of  the  latter  would,  "  with  all  convenient  speed, 
and  without  causing  any  destruction,  or  carrying  away  any  negroes 
or  property  of  the  American  inhabitants,  withdraw  all  his  forces 
garrisons,  and  fleets,  from  the  United  States,  and  from  every  post, 
place,  and  harbor,  within  the  same,"f  yet,  at  the  time  of  Harmar's, 
St.  Glair's,  and  Wayne's  campaigns,  the  British  Government  still 
held  and  garrisoned  the  posts  of  Niagara,  Detroit,  and  Michilmaci- 
nac ;  and  from  these  points,  under  the  plea  that  that  part  of  the 
treaty  J  of  1783,  relating  to  the  collection  and  pa}rment  of  all  debts|| 
theretofore  contracted  with  and  due  to  the  King's  subjects,  had 
not  been  faithfully  complied  with  by  the  Americans,  much  to  the 
detriment  of  the  former,  the  English  Government  persisted  in  hold- 

*This  man  seems  to  have  been  a  noted  character  throusrh  most  of  the  early  struggles 
in  the  north  and  west,  from  Dutimore's  war,  in  1774,  till  after  the  war  of  1812.  He 
•was  once  adopted  by  the  Sen^cas,  the  same  year  that  he  joined  Lord  Dunmore's  cam- 
paign :  but  subsequently  allie-l  himself  to  the  Wyandotts,  and  long  after  led  a  rov- 
ing, savage  life  among  the  Indians  of  the  northwest,  usually  leading  them  to  battle, 
or  instigating  them  t.o  deeds  of  ferocity  against  the  Americans,  under  British  employ- 
er encouragement.  He  was  of  Irish  descent,  and  said  to  have  been  the  wildest  and 
most  reckless  of  the  family.  He  had  three  brothers — Thomas,  George,  and  James. 
Mrs.  Suttentield  informed  the  writer  that  she  learne  1  some  time  suqsequent  to  the  ar- 
rival of  herself  and  husband  at  the  Fort  here,  in  1814,  that  Simon  and  James  Girty 
had  lived  for  some  time,  prior  to  the  war  of  1812,  near  the  bend  of  the  Maumce,  about 
two  miles  below  Fort  Wayne.  At  the  capitulation  of  Detroit,  in  1812,  Mrs.  S.  and  her 
husband  being  there,  saw  Simon  Girtv,  and  described  him  ns  a  short,  heavy  set,  rough 
looking  character,  with  grey  hair.  When  he  had  last  visited  Detroit,  some  years  prior, 
he  had  caused  his  horse  to  jump  off  a  considerable  embankment  into  the  river,  and 
then  swam  her  over  the  same.  "  Here's  old  Simon  Girty  again  on  American  toil !  "  he 
exc'aimed.as  he  approached  a  crowd  gathered  at  a  prominent  point  in  the  place,  at 
the  time  Mrs.  S.  and  her  husband  saw  him  at  Detroit.  "  What  did  you  do  with  that 
blnck  mare  you  jumped  into  the  river  when  Wayne  was  after  you  ?  "  enquired  one  of 
the  crowd.  "  0,  she's  dead,  and  I  buried  her  with  the  honors  of  war,"  replied  Girty. 
Notwithstanding  his  peculiar  organization  and  the  many  unfortunate  traits  of  char- 
acter ascribed  to  him,  he  is  said  to  have  possessed  some  redeeming  points — was  strong 
in  his  friendship  towards  those  he  became  attached,  and,  in  many  respects,  was  some- 
what honorable.  He  was  often  at  the  Miami  village  here,  and  doubtless  had  much  to 
do,  at  various  times,  with  exciting  the  Indians  to  warfare  against  the  Americans, 
against  whom,  with  the  Indians,  lie  fought  at  St.  Glair's  defeat.  Generally  attired  iu 
the  Indian  costume,  it  was  of  course  difficult  to  distinguish  him,  except  when  lie  spoke 
the  English  language.  He  is  said  to  have  lived  to  the  age  of  near  a  hundred  years, 
and  died  in  Canada,  some  years  subsequent  to  the  war  of  1812.  Interesting  accounts 
of  him  will  be  found  in  "  Annals  of  the  West,"  beginning  on  page  281,  and  in  the 
"  American  Pioneer,"  beginning  on  page  282. 

fLaws  U.  S..  i,  205.  *  Article  4,  U.  S.  Laws 

U  Some  of  the  States  had  passed  laws,  soon  after  the  treaty  of  17S3,  tending  to  prevent 
or  restrain  the  coiloction  of  debts  due  from  American  citizens  to  the  King's  subject;-. 


l:;i;  HISTOKY  ut   FOKT  WAYXE. 

iiiLT  these  posts,  (more  especially  to  retain  the  fur  trade)  and  con- 
tinued, from  time  to  time,  to  ,a:ivo  aid  and  comfort  to  the  Indians 
and  others  in  open  warfare  and  attacks  upon  the  U.  S.  forces  and 
the  settlements  along-  the  Ohio,  and  other  points  in  the  west. 

With  the  advantages  presented  by  the  fur  trade,  carried  on  by 
the  English  and  Canadians,  (the  latter  being  then  subjects  of  the 
King  of  England)  and  withal  not  a  little  jealous  of  the  United 
States  in  her  efforts  to  extend  her  dominion  over  the  tribes  and  ter- 
ritory north  of  the  Ohio,  to  relinquish  her  hold  upon  the  country 
and  leave  the  tribes  to  the  control  and  influence  of  the  Americans, 
were  points  not  easily  to  be  set  aside  by  the  British  Government. 
And  accordingly,  while  Gen.  St  Clair  was  preparing  to  march  up- 
on the  Miami  village,  at  the  junction  of  the  St.  Mary  and  St.  Jo- 
seph, the  English,  at  Niagara,  Detroit,  and  Michilimacinac  were 
using  what  means  they  could  to  defeat  the  purposes  of  the  United 
States  Government;  and  but  a  small  insight  as  to  their  movements, 
at  that  time,  in  league  with  the  Indians  and  others,  would  doubt- 
less have  been  sufficient  to  have  convinced  St.  Clair  and  his  officers 
of  the  utter  futility  of  any  effort  to  capture  the  Miami  village,  or 
establish  a  military  post  at  this  point,  as  then  being  pushed  for- 
ward. But^the  effort  seemed  destined  to  be  made  ;  and  after  much 
delay  and  many  impeding  and  perplexing  circumstances,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  month  of  September,  1791,  the  main  body  of  St. 
Glair's  army,  under  General  Butler,  took  up  its  line  of  march  from 
the  vicinity  of  Fort  Washington,  and,  moving  northward  some 
twenty-five  miles,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Great  Miami,  erected 
a  post,  which  they  called  Fort  Hamilton.  On  the  4th  of  October, 
Fort  Hamilton  being  completed,  the  army  began  its  further  march 
for  the  Miami  village.  Having  advanced  forty-two  miles  from  Fort 
Hamilton,  they  erected  another  garrison,  calling  it  Fort  Jeiierson, 
:-i\  miles  south  of  Greenville,  Ohio.  The  season  was  now  far  ad- 
vanced ;  and  the  24th  of  October  had  arrived  before  the  army  was 
agnin  on  its  move  for  the  village. 

After  a  march  of  nine  days,  during  which  time  a  number  of  the 
militia  deserted ;  heavy  rains  fell ;  provisions  became  short ;  a  re- 
connoitering  party  from  the  main  army,  was  fired  upon,  two  killed, 
and  one  supposed  to  have  been  taken  prisoner;  and  St,  Clair  sick 
much  of  the  way,  on  the  3d  of  November  the  main  army  reached 
the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Fort  Recovery,  Ohio,  and  encamped, 
at  the  head  waters  of  the  Wabash,  in  view  of  several  small  creeks, 
about  fifteen  miles  from  the  Miami  village  here. 

The  chill  of  winter  now  begun  to  be  perceptibly  felt — snow  had 
already  fallen,  and  the  earth  was  white  therewith.  Some  Indians 
wore  here  seen,  but  they  fled  as  soon  as  observed. 

The  advance  und  general  movement  of  St.  Clair  was  suffieiently 
well  known*  to  the  confederated  tribes  and  their  allies  to  inspire 

*TliR  new*  of  St.  Clair's  march  upon  the  Miami  villages  having  reached  the  Indians 
during  the  nutumu  of  1791,  the  famous  Shawanocs  chiei',  Tccatuteh,  savs  the  life  of 


ATTACK  UPON  THE  ARMY  OF  ST.  CLAIK.  137 

them  with  great  courage  and  determination,  and  had  already  be- 
gun a  resort  to  strategem  to  draw  the  army  into  their  clutches ;  and 
had  even  advanced  to  within  a  few  miles  of  the  main  body  of  the 
army,  where,  under  the  lead  of  the  famous  Little  Turtle,  Buck-ong- 
a-helas,  Blue  Jacket,  Simon  Girty,  and  several  other  white  men, 
lay — in  readiness  to  meet  the  advancing  columns  of  St.  Glair — some 
twelve  hundred  warriors. 

The  army  was  now  some  fifteen  miles  from  the  Miami  village. 
With  a  view  to  a  place  of  safety  for  the  knapsacks  of  the  soldiers, 
St.  Glair,  with  Major  Ferguson,  had,  on  the  evening  of  the  arrival 
of  the  army  at  its  present  encampment,  concluded  "  to  throw  up  a 
slight  work/'  and  then,  with  the  regiment  yet  back,  to  move  on  to 
attack  the  enemy.  But  neither  were  consummated;  and  before  the 
sun  had  sent  his  rays  over  the  western  wilds — between  that  hour 
which  the  adage  has  accounted  the  darkest  just  before  day,  and 
the  full  twilight  of  the  morning — the  Indian  whoop  and  wild  yell  of 
the  enemy  startled  the  army  of  St.  Glair,  already  under  arms,  into 
the  wildest  commotion,  and  at  once  began  a  furious  attack  upon 
the  militia,  which  soon  gave  way,  and  pell-mell,  came  rushing  into 
the  midst  of  the  camp,  through  Major  Butler's  battalion,  creating 
the  wildest  disorder  on  every  side,  and  closely  pursued  by  the  In- 
dians. "The  fire,  however,  of  the  front  line  checked  them  ;  but  al- 
most instantly  a  very  heavy  attack  began  upon  that  line ;  and  in  a 
few  minutes  it  was  extended  to  the  second  likewise.  The  great 
weight  of  it  was  directed  against  the  center  of  each,  where  the  ar- 
tillery was  placed,  and  from  which  the  men  were  repeatedly  driven 
with  great  slaughter."*  Soon  perceiving  but  little  effect  from  the 
fire  of  the  artillery,  a  bayonet  charge  was  ordered,  led  by  Lieut- 
Colonel  Darke,  which  drove  the  Indians  back  some  distance,  but, 
for  the  want  of  sufficient  force,  they  soon  moved  forward  to  the  at- 
tack again,  and  the  troops  of  Darke  were,  in  turn,  compelled  to  give 
way ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  enemy  had  pushed  their  way 
into  camp  by  the  left  flank,  and  the  troops  there  also  were  giving 
way.  Repeated  and  effectual  charges  were  now  made  by  Butler 
and  Clarke's  battallions,  but  with  great  loss ;  many  officers  fell, 
leaving  the  raw  troops  without  direction — Major  Butler  himself  be- 
ing dangerously  wounded.  In  the  second  regiment  every  officer 
had  fallen,  except  three,  and  one  of  these  had  been  shot  through 
the  body. 

The  "  artillery  being  now  silenced,  and  all  the  officers  killed,  ex- 
cept Captain  Ford,  who  was  very  badly  wounded  and  more  than 

*St.  Glair's  report. 

t'lfit  chief,  was  soon  placed  at  the  head  of  a  small  party  of  spies  or  scouts,  "with  instruc- 
tions to  watch  an<l  report  the  advancement  of  St.  Glair  ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  done 
hi*  work  most  faithfully,  for,  while  concealed  near  a  small  tributary  ef  the  Great  Mi- 
ami,  he  and  his  party  saw  St.  Clair  and  his  army  pass  on  their  way  to  Greenville. 
Though  prevented  from  taking  part  in  the  hostile  movements  that  followed,  yet,  it  is 
evident  that  the  efforts  of  Tecumsfh  and  his  little  band,  whose  report  soon  reached  th«.« 
head  chief*  in  action  against  St.  Clair,  had  much  to  do  with  the  subsequent  defeat  and 
i  cut  of  the  army. 


138  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

half  of  the  army  fallen,  being  cut  off  from  the  road,  it  became  nec- 
essary to  attempt  the  regaining  of  it,  and  to  make  a  retreat,  if  pos- 
sible. For  this  purpose  the  remains  of  the  army  were  formed,  as 
well  as  circumstances  would  admit,  towards  the  right  of  the  en- 
campment, from  which,  by  the  way  of  the  second  line,  another 
charge  was  made  upon  the  enemy,  as  if  with  the  design  to  turn 
their  right  flank,  but  in  fact  to  gain  the  road.  This  was  effected, 
and  as  soon  as  it  was  open,  the  militia  took  along  it,  followed  by 
the  troops  ;  Major  Clarke,  with  his  battalion  covering  the  rear."* 
Everything  was  now  precipitate.  The  panic  had  assumed  a  terri- 
ble flight.  The  camp  and  artillery  were  all  abandoned — not  a  horse 
was  left  alive  to  remove  the  cannon  ;  and  the  soldiery  threw  away 
their  arms  and  accouterments  as  they  ran,  strewing  the  road  for 
miles  with  them.  The  retreat  began  about  half-past  nine  o'clock, 
and  continued  a  distance  of  twenty-nine  miles,  to  Fort  Jefferson, 
where  they  arrived  soon  after  sunset,  having  lost  thirty-nine  officers, 
killed,  and  five  hundred  and  ninety-three  men  killed  and  missing; 
twenty-two  officers,  and  two  hundred  and  forty-two  men  wounded ; 
with  a  loss  to  the  public,  in  stores  and  other  valuable  property,  to 
the  amount  of  some  thirty-two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ten 
dollars  and  seventy-five  cents.f 

The  following  were  the  names  of  the  officers  who  fell  on  this 
memorable  occasion:  Major-general  Richard  Butler,  Licutenant- 
colonelOldham,  of  the  Kentucky  militia;  Majors  Ferguson,  Clarke, 
and  Hart;  Captains  Bradford,  Phelon,  Kirkwoo.l,  Price,  Van 
Swearingen,  Tipton,  Smith,  Purdy,  Piatt,  Guthrie,  Cribbs,  and  New- 
man; Lieutenants  Spear,  Warren,  Boyd,  McMath,  Bead,  Burgess, 
Kelso,  Little,  Hopper,  and  Lickens ;  Ensigns  Balch,  Cobb,  Chase, 
Turner,  Wilson,  Brooks,  Beatty,  and  Purdy ;  Quartermasters  Rey- 
nolds and  Ward;  Adjutant  Anderson;  and  Doctor  Grasson.  The 
officers  wounded  were : — Lieutenant-colonels  Gibson,  Darke,  and 
Sargent,  (adjutant-general;)  Major  Butler;  Captains  Doyle,  True- 
man,  Ford,  Buchanan,  Darke,  and  Hough;  Lieutenants  Greaton, 
Davidson,  De  Butts,  Price,  Morgan,  McCroa,  Lysle,  and  Thomson  ; 
Ensign  Bines;  Adjutants  Whisler  and  Crawford;  and  the  Viscount 
Malartie,  volunteer  aid-de-camp  to  the  commander-in- chief. 

Many  women J  had  followed  the  army  of  St.  Clair  in  its  march 
towards  the  Miami  village,  prefering  to  be  with  their  husbands  than 
to  remain  behind,  most  of  whom  were  destroyed;  and  "after  the 
flight  of  the  remnant  of  the  army,  the  Indians  began  to  avenge 
their  own  real  and  imaginary  wrongs  by  perpetrating  the  most  hor- 
rible acts  of  cruelty  and  brutality  upon  the  bodies  of  the  living  and 
dead  Americans  who  fell  into  their  hands.  Believing  that  the  whites, 
for  many  years,  made  war  merely  to  acquire  land,  the  Indians 

4St.  Clair's  report.  fReport  of  Secrc-tary  of  War,  Doc.  11,  1792. 

J '  History  of  Obio."  \>\  At  v;iu-r,  say*  2.r>0  :  Dillon,  in  his  Hi-i.  of  InJ.,  says  "  more 
than  out;  hunditfd." 


VAN  CLEVE'S  NARBATION  OF  ST.  CLAIK'S  DEFEAT.  130 

crammed  clay  and  sand  into  the  eyes  and  down  the  throats  of  the 
dying-  and  the  dead."* 

B.  Van  Cleve,  who  was  in  the  quartermaster-general's  depart- 
ment, of  the  army  of  St.  Glair,  says :  f"  On  tne  fourth  [of  Novem.ber] 
at  daybreak,  I  began  to  prepare  for  returning  [to  Fort  Washing- 
ton,] j  and  had  got  about  half  my  luggage  on  my  horse,  when  the 
firing  commenced.  We  were  encamped  just  within  the  lines,  on 
the  right.  The  attack  was  made  on  the  Kentucky  militia.  Almost 
instantaneously,  the  small  remnant  of  them  that  escaped  broke 
through  the  line  near  us,  and  this  line  gave  away.  Followed  by  a 
tremendous  fire  from  the  enemy,  they  passed  me.  I  threw  my 
bridle  over  a  stump,  from  which  a  tent  pole  had  been  cut,  and  fol- 
lowed a  short  distance,  when  finding  the  troops  had  halted,  I  re- 
turned and  brought  my  horse  a  little  further.  I  was  now  between 
the  fires,  and  finding  the  troops  giving  away  again,  was  obliged  to 
leave  him  a  second  time.  As  I  quitted  him  he  was  shot  down,  and 
I  felt  rather  glad  of  it,  as  I  concluded  that  now  I  shall  be  at  liberty 
to  share  in  the  engagement.  My  inexperience  prompted  me  to 
calculate  on'  our  forces  being  far  superior  to  any  that  the  savages 
could  assemble,  and  that  we  should  soon  have  the  pleasure  of  driv- 
ing them.  Not  more  than  five  minutes  had  yet  elapsed,  when  a 
soldier  near  me  had  his  arm  swinging  with  a  wound.  I  requested 
his  arms  and  accoutrements,  as  he  was  unable  to  use  them,  promis- 
ing to  return  them  to  him,  and  commenced  firing.  The  smoke  was 
settled  down  to  within  about  three  feet  of  the  ground,  but  I  gener- 
ally put  one  knee  to  the  ground  and  with  a  rest  from  behind  a  tree, 
waited  the  appearance  of  an  Indian's  head  from  behind  his  cover, 
or  for  one  to  run  and  change  his  position.  Before  I  was  convinced 
of  my  mistaken  calculations,  the  battle  was  half  over  and  I  had  be- 
come fainiliarised  to  the  scene.  Hearing  the  firing  at  one  time 
unusually  brisk  near  the  rear  of  the  left  wing,  I  crossed  the  encamp- 
ment. Two  levy  officers  were  just  ordering  a  charge.  I  had  fired 
away  my  ammunition  and  some  of  the  bands  of  my  musket  had 
flown  off.  I  picked  up  another,  and  a;  cartridge  box  nearly  full, 
and  pushed  forward  with  about  thirty  others.  The  Indians  ran  to 

^Dillon's  His.  Ind.,  p.  283.  From  a  letter  to  General  St.  Clair,  dated  Fort  Washing- 
ton, February  13, 1792,  written  by  Capt.  Robert  Bunti,who  had  previously  accompa- 
nied Gen.  James  "Wilkinson  with  a  small  detachment  of  mounted  men  to  the  scene  of 
St.  Glair's  defeat,  the  following  extract  is  made  :  "  We  left  Fort  Jefferson  about  nine 
o'clock  on  the  31st  (of  January),  with  the  volunteers,  2nd  arrived  within  eight  miles  of 
the  field  of  battle  that  evening,  and  next  day  we  arrived  at  the  ground  about  ten 
o'clock.  The  scene  was  truly  melancholy.  In  my  opinion  those  unfortunate  men  who 
foil  into  the  enemy's  hands,  with  life,  were  used  with  the  greatest  torture — having  their 
limbs  torn  off;  and  the  women  have  been  treated  with  the  most  indecent  cruelty ,  hav- 
ing stakes  as  thick  as  a  person's  arm,  drove  through  their  bodies.  The  first,  I  observed 
when  burrying  the  dead  ;  and  the  latter  was  discovered  by  Colonel  Sargent  and  Dr. 
Brown."  rits  being  dug,  all  the  bodies  found  were  burried  by  the  detachment  under 
Wilkinson.  The  Indians  seldom  if  ever  buried  thoso  they  killed  in  battle,  or  other- 
wise. 

tAs  published  from  the  manuscript  of  Van  Cleve  in  the  "  American  Pioneer,"  lb'43. 

iSays  a.  note  to  this  account ;  "  He  was  in  the  quartermaster-general's  service  ;  so 
that  ha  '  ibiiffut  on  his  oTa  hbok.'  " 


HlSTOBY    OF    FOKT 

the  right,  whe,re  there  was  a  small  ravine  filled  with  logs.  I  bent 
my  course  after  them,  and  on  looking  round,  found  I  was  with  only 
n  or  eight  men,  the  others  having  kept  straight,  forward  and 
halted  about  thirty  yards  off.  We  halted  also,  and  being  so  near 
to  where  the  savages  lay  concealed,  the  second  lire  from  them  left 
me  standing  alone.  My  cover  was  a  small  sugar  tree  or  beach, 
scarcely  large  enough  to  hide  me.  I  fired  away  all  my  ammuni- 
tion ;  I  am  uncertain  whether  with  any  effect  or  not.  I  then  looked 
for  the  party  near  me,  and  saw  them  retreating  and  half  way  back 
to  the  lines.  I  followed  them,  running  my  best,  and  was  soon  in. 
By  this  time  our  artillery  had  been  taken,  I  do  not  know  whether 
the  first  or  second  time,  and  our  troops  had  just  retaken  it,  and 
were  charging  the  enemy  across  the  creek  in  front ;  and  some  per- 
son told  me  to  look  at  an  Indian  running  with  one  of  our  kegs  of 
powder,  but  I  did  not  see  him.  There  were  about  thirty  of  our 
men  ana  officers  lying  scalped  around  the  pieces  of  artillery.  It 
appeared  that  the  Indians  had  not  been  in  a  hurry,  for  their  hair 
was  all  skinned  off." 

"  Daniel  Bouham,  a  young  man  raised  by  my  uncle  jfnd  brought 
up  with  me,  and  whom  I  regarded  as  a  brother,  had  by  this  time 
received  a  shot  through  his  hips,  and  was  unable  to  walk.  I  pro- 
cured a  horse  and  got  him  on.  My  uncle  had  received  a  ball  near 
his  wrist  that  lodged  near  his  elbow.  The  ground  was  literally 
covered  with  dead  and  dying  men,  and  the  commander  gave  orders 
to  take  the  way — perhaps  they  had  been  given  more  explicitly. 
Happening  to  see  my  uncle,  he  told  me  a  retreat  was  ordered,  and 
that  I  must  do  the  best  I  could,  and  take  care  of  myself.  Bonham 
insisted  that  he  had  a  better  chance  of  escaping  than  I  had,  and 
urged  me  to  look  to  my  own  safety  alone.  I  found  the  troops  pressing 
like  a  drove  of  bullocks  to  the  right.  I  saw  an  officer,  whom  I  took 
to  be  lieut.  Morgan,  an  aid  to  general  Butler,  with  six  or  eight  men, 
start  on  a  run  a  little  to  the  left  of  where  I  was.  I  immediately  ran 
and  fell  in  with  them.  In  a  short  distance  we  were  so  suddenly 
among  the  Indians,  who  "were  not  apprised  of  our  object,  that  they 
opened  to  us,  and  ran  to  the  ri^ht  and  left  without  firing.  I  think 
about  two  hundred  of  our  men  passed  through  them  before  they 
iired,  except  a  chance  shot.  When  we  had  proceeded  about  two 
miles,  most  of  those  mounted  had  passed  me.  A  boy  had  been 
thrown  or  fell  off  a  horse,  and  begged  my  assistance.  I  ran,  pull- 
ing him  along,  about  two  miles  further,  until  I  had  become  nearly 
exhausted.  Of  the  last  two  horses  in  the  rear,  one  carried  two  men, 
and  the  other  three.  I  made  an  exertion  and  threw  him  on  behind 
the  two  men.  The  Indians  followed  but  about  half  a  mile  further.  .- 
The  boy  was  thrown  off  some  time  afterwards,  but  escaped  and 
got  in  safely.  My  friend  Bonham  I  did  not  see  on  the  retreat,  but 
understood  he  was  thrown  off  about  this  place,  and  lay  on  the  left 
«>f  the  trace,  where  he  was  found  in  the  winter  and  was  buried.  I 
took  the  cramp  violently  in  my  thighs,  and  could  scarcely  walk, 


VAN  CLEVE'S   NAKEATION.  141 

until  I  got  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  rear,  where  the  Indians 
Were  tomahawking  the  old  and  wounded  men ;  and  I  stopped  here 
to  tie  my  pocket  handkerchief  around  a  man's  wounded  knee.  I 
saw  the  Indians  close  in  pursuit  at  this  time,  and  for  a  moment  my 
spirits  sunk,  and  I  felt  in  despair  for  my  safety.  I  considered 
whether  I  should  leave  the  road,  or  whether  I  was  capable  of  any 
further  exertion.  If  I  left  the  road,  the  Indians  were  in  plain,  sight 
and  could  easily  overtake  me.  I  threw  the  shoes  off  my  feet  and 
the  coolness  of  the  ground  seemed  to  revive  me.  I  again  began  a 
trot,  and  recollect  that,  when  a  bend  in  the  road  offered,  and  I  got 
before  half  a  dozen  persons,  I  thought  it  would  occupy  some  time 
for  the  enemy  to  massacre  them,  before  my  turn  would  come.  By 
the  time  I  had  got  to  Stillwatcr,  about  eleven  miles,  I  had  gained 
the  centre  of  the  flying  troops,  and,  like  them,  came  to  a  walk.  I 
fell  in  with  lieutenant  Shaumburg,  who,  I  think,  was  the  only  officer 
of  artillery  that  got  away  unhurt,  with  corporal  Mott,  and  a  woman 
who  was  called  red-headed  Nance.  The  latter  two  were  both  cry- 
ing. Mott  was  lamenting  the  loss  of  his  wife,  and  Nance  that  of 
an  infant  child.  Shaumburg  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  hung  on 
Mott's  arm.  I  carried  his  fusee  and  accoutrements,  and  led  Nance ; 
and  in  thia  sociable  way  we  arrived  at  Fort  Jefferson,  a  little  after 
sunset. 

"The  commander-in-chief had  ordered  Col.  Darke  to  press  for- 
ward to  the  convoys  of  provisions,  and  hurry  them  on  to  the  army. 
Major  Truman,  captain  Sedan  and  my  uncle  were  setting  forward 
with  him.  A  number  of  soldiers,  and  packhorsemen  on  foot,  and 
myself  among  them,  joined  them.  "We  came  on  a  few  miles,  when 
all,  overcome  with  fatigue,  agreed  to  a  halt.  Darius  Curtus  Orcutt,* 
a  packhorse  master,  had  stolen  at  Jefferson,  one  pocket  full  of  flour 
and  the  other  full  of  beef.  One  of  the  men  had  a.  kettle,  and  one 
Jacob  Fowler  and  myself  groped  about  in  the  dark,  until  we  found 
some  water,  where  a  tree  had  been  blown  out  of  root.  We  made  a 
kettle  of  soup,  of  which  I  got  a  small  portion  among  the  many.  It 
was  then  concluded,  as  there  was  a  bend  in  the  road  a  few  miles 
further  on,  that  the  Indians  might  undertake  to  intercept  us  there, 
and  we  decamped  and  traveled  about  four  or  five  miles  further.  I 
had  got  a  rifle  and  ammunition  at  Jefferson,  from  a  wounded  mili- 
tiaman, an  old  acquaintance,  to  bring  in.  A  sentinel  was  set,  and 
we  laid  down  and  slept,  until  the  governor  came  up  a  few  hours  af- 
terward. I  think  I  never  slept  so  profoundly.  I  could  hardly  get 
awake  afrer  I  was  on  my  feet.  On  the  day  before  the  defeat,  the 
ground  was  covered  with  snow.  The  flats  were  now  filled  with  wa- 
ter frozen  over,  the  ice  as  thick  as  a  knife-blade.  I  was  worn  out 
with  fatigue,  with  my  feet  knocked  to  pieces  against  the  roots  in 
the  night,  and  splashing  through  the  ice  without  shoes.  In  the 

*0rcntt's  packhorsps  were  branded  D.  C.  O.,and  itwasastandinjrjoke,  when  any  one 
asked  what  the  brand  meant,  to  answer  that  D.  C.  stood  for  Darby  Carey,  and  the  round 
O  for  his  wife, — Western  Pioneer. 


142  HKTOEY  OF  FORT    WAYXB. 

morning  \re  got  to  a  camp  of  packhorsemen,  and  amongst  them  I 
got  a  doughboy  or  water-dumpling,  and  proceeded.  We  got  within 
seven  miles  of  Hamilton  on  this  day,  and  arrived  there  soon  on  the 
morning  of  the  sixth." 

The  efforts  against  the  Miami  village  were,  for  a  time,  at  least, 
brought  to  a  close.  A  new  order  of  things  now  became  necessary, 
if  success  was  to  be  attained  in  any  further  movement  towards  thi» 
point. 


CHAPTER  XII, 


Fill  up  life's  little  span 

With  God-like  deeds — it  is  the  test- 
Test  of  the  high-born  soul, 

And  lofty  aim  ; 
The  test  in  History's  scroll 

Of  every  honored  name! 
None  but  the  brave  shall  win  the  goal." — HARVKY  RICE. 


How  Washington  Was  effected  by  the  defeat  of  St.  Glair— Frontier  settlements  exposed 
to  the  ravages  of  the  Indians — Appointment  of  General  Wayne  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Western  army— Relief  of  the  frontier  settlements — -Party  spirit — Ef* 
forts  of  the  government  to  form  treaties  with  the  Indians — General  Wayne  ad- 
vances towards  this  point— Establishes  his  headquarters  at  Fort  Greenville — Erects 
a  fortification  on  the  site  of  St.  Glair's  defeat— Indians  begin  to  be  fearful  of  suc- 
cess—Send General  Wayne  a  speech — Can't  accept  the  terms  of  Wayne — They 
still  hope  for  British  aid— The  Spanish  of  the  Lower  Mississippi — Detachment 
sent  to  Fort  Massac — Fierce  attack  upon  Fort  Recovery — The  army  starts  for  the 
Miami  village — Erection  Of  Fort  Adams — Army  reaches  mouth  of  the  Anglaizo 
and  Maumee— -Erection  there  of  Fort  Defiance-— Wayne's  report  to  the  Secretary  of 
War— Distrust  of  the  Indians— Capt.  William  Wells  and  Little  Turtle— Wella 
quits  the  Miamies  and  joins  Wayne— Council  of  the  tribes— Speech  of  Little  Turtle 
-^Movements  of  the  army — Attack  by  the  Indians—- The  wisdom  of  Little  Turtle 
-—Anthony  Shane's  account  of  Tecumseh — Report  of  General  Wayne— Return  to 
Fort  Defiance — Destruction  of  corn-fields  and  villages— General  Wayne  and  the 
British  commander  at  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee — 'Repairs  upon  Fort  Defiance — 
Army  movt-s  again  fpr  the  village  here — Its  arrival — Selection  of  the  site  for  the 
erection  of  a  fort — 'Journal  of  the  army — Completion  of  the  fortr—Lieut.-Col  Ham- 
tramck  assumes  command,  and  names  it  FORT  WAYHE—  Main  body  of  the  army, 
under  Wayne,  starts  for  Fort  Greenville — Glorious  effect  of  Wayne's  victory 
throughout  the  country— Indians  invited  to  hold  a  treaty  of  peace — -effoits  of  the 
British  Indian  agents^'-Agreeable  adjustment  of  affairs  with  Great  Britain — In- 
dians dispirited  thereby — They  begin  to  visit  Wayne  at  Greenville — Letters  of 
Col.  Hamtraihck — The  treaty  of  Greenville — effecting  addresw  of  Wayne — Great 
rejoicing  throughout  the  country—"  Westward,  ho  I " 


'HE  NEWS  of  the  defeat  of  Gen.  St.  Glair  fell  heavily  upon 
(the  mind  of  Washington.  He  had  long  looked  upon  the  cap- 
ture of  this  locality  and  the  establishment  here  of  formidable 
fortifications  with  the  highest  degree  of  interest  and  concern ; 
and  to  learn  of  the  defeat  of  an  army  like  that  under  St.  Glair 
—a  defeat  greater  than  that  of  Braddock  in  his  movement  against 
Fort  Du  Quesne>  in  1T&15— was  tb  hte  moTst  sfeYtfrfely  felt  Ibty  him, 


144  HISTOKY  OP  FORT  WAYNE. 

He  had  hoped  lor  speedy  relief  to  the  sparse  and  greatly  exposed 
settlements  of  the  west,  and  had  relied  largely  upon  General  St. 
Clair  to  carry  his  designs  and  those  ot  the  government  to  a  suc- 
cessful termination ;  and  while,  in  the  main,  Gen.  St.  Clair  was  but 
little  if  any  to  blame  for  the  terrible  defeat  that  impeded  his  inarch 
to  the  Miami  village,  yet  Washington  could  but  feel  it  most  sorely. 
His  feelings  are  said  suddenly  to  have  overcome  him ;  and  though 
most  unlike  the  man  of  courage,  hope,  perseverance,  and  usual 
calm,  self-complacency,  when  told  of  St.  Glair's  ill  success,  his  bet- 
ter feelings  suddenly  gave  way  to  those  of  the  most  intense  discom- 
liture,  "It's  all  over!"  he  exclaimed;  "St.  Clair  is  defeated! 
routed!"  His  private  secretary,  according  to  the  account,  was  tho 
only  one  present,  and  he  is  said  to  have  been  "  awed  into  breathless 
silence  by  the  appalling  tones  in  which  the  torrent  of  invective 
was  poured  forth  by  Washington.  But  his  composure  was  as  soon 
restored,  and  new  resolution  as  readily  formed  in  the  plastic  mind 
of  the  President. 

The  defeat  of  St.  Glair's  force  was  doubly  embarrassing.  Be- 
sides disappointing  and  perplexing  the  government,  it  had  "  ex- 
posed the  whole  range  of  the  frontier  settlements  on  the  Ghio  to  the 
fury  of  the  Indians,"  against  which  they  made  the  best  arrange- 
ments in  their  power  for  their  own  defence  ;  while  the  government 
took  measures  for  recruiting,  as  soon  as  possible,  the  Western  army. 
Among  the  military  commandants  of  the  time,  General  Wayne 
was  a  great  favorite  with  the  people  of  the  west,  and  he  readily 
received  the  appointment  to  the  command  of  the  western  troops ; 
though  "  a  factious  opposition  in  Congress,  at  that  time,  to  the  mil- 
tary  and  linancial  plans  of  the  administration,  delayed  the  equip* 
ment  of  the  army  for  nearl}r  two  years ; "  and  thus,  "  while  General 
Wayne  was  preparing  to  penetrate  the  Indian  country  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1794,  the  attention  of  the  Indians  was  drawn  to  their  own 
defence,  and  the  jron tiers  were  relieved  from  their  attacks."*  Party 
spirit  now  ran  high.  The  west  felt  sorely  agrieyed,  and  every  act 
of  the  general  government  tending  towards  conciliation  with  the 
British,  who  were  charged  with  inciting  the  Indians  on  the  frontier, 
was  looked  upon  in  the  most  disapprobative  feeling ;  and  Avhile 
General  Wayne,  from  1792  to  August,  1793,  was  gathering  his 
forces  for  tho  rene^Yal  of  efforts  against  the  Indians  of  this  point, 
the  government  of  the  United  States  used  strenuous  efforts  to  estab- 
lish treaties  of  peace  and  good-will  among  the  tribes  hostile  to  the 
Americans  in  the  nerthwestern  territory,  by  sending  out  messen- 
gers with  speeches.  On  the  7th  of  April,  1792,  Brig. -General  Wil- 
kinson dispatched  such  messengers  (Freeman  and  Gerrard)  from 
Fort  Washington  to  the  Indians  on  the  Maumee  ;f  but  who  were 
captured,  and  being  taken  for  spies,  were  murdered  some  where 
near  the  rapids  ot  this  river ;  and  the  efforts  of  the  government  re- 
sulted in  but  little  success,  in  so  far  as  the  direct  desire  for  peace 

»"  African  1'ionoer,"  p.  206.  iDillon's  His.  Ind.  pp.  287,  2fc9, 


WAYNE'S  MOVEMENT  FROM  FOKT  WASHINGTON.  145 

was  concerned.  The  strong  arm  of  war  seemed  the  only  means  left 
to  bring  the  tribes  to  a  true  sense  of  regard  for  the  government  and 
its  real  purposes  towards  the  Indians  of  the  western  country.  Thus 
stood  matters  from  the  time  of  the  last  efforts  of  the  United  States, 
on  the  part  of  its  last  commissioners  to  the  Indians,  (Benjamin 
Lincoln,  Beverley  Randolph,  and  Timothy  Pickering)  in  August, 
1703,  with  some  activity  on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  and  much  hope 
and  anxiety  on  the  part  of  the  settlements  of  Marietta  and  other 
points  in  the  west,  till  Wayne  had  advanced  from  his  headquarters, 
at  "  Hobson's  Choice,"  near  Fort  Washington,  on  the  6th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1793,  to  the  southwest  branch  of  the  Great  Miami,  within  six 
miles  of  Fort  Jefferson,  and,  about  a  month  subsequently,  estab- 
lished his  headquarters  at  Fort  Greenville,*  which  was  built  by  him 
about  the  period  of  his  arrival  at  that  point.  On  the  23d  of  Decem- 
ber, of  this  year,  from  this  fort,  he  gave  orders  for  the  erection  of 
a  fort  on  the  site  of  St.  Glair's  defeat,  in  '91,  and  for  that  purpose 
ordered  Major  Henry  Burbeck,  with  eight  companies  of  infantry, 
and  a  detachment  of  artillery,  to  proceed  to  the  ground,  whither 
the  soldiers  arrived,  executed  the  order  of  General  Wayne,  and  the 
fortification  was  appropriately  called  "Fort  Recovery."  At  this 
bold  procedure,  the  Indians  began  to  exhibit  signs  of  uneasiness, 
and  soon  sent  General  Wayne  a  "speech,'"  desiring  to  present  over- 
tures of  peace  with  the  United  States  ;  but  the  terms  presented  by 
Wayne  were  not  then  agreeable  to  the  Indians,  who  had,  about  the 
time  of  Wayne's  proposition,  much  as  in  the  case  of  the  French,  at 
the  time  of  the  Pontiac  struggle  against  the  British,  been  led  to  hope 
that  early  in  the  coming  year  ('94),  Great  Britain  would  render 
them  sufficient  aid  to  enable  them  to  expel  and  destroy  the  Amer- 
ican settlers  situated  on  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio.f 

Matters  now  agitating  the  general  mind,  and,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  calling  away  the  attention  of  the  Government,  relative  to  a 
proposed  expedition 'against  the  Spaniards  of  the  Lower  Mississippi, 
and  to  oppose  which,  General  Wayne  was  ordered  by  President 
Washington  to  send  a  detachment  to  Fort  Massac,  on  the  Ohio, 
about  eight  miles  below  the  Tennessee  river,  there  "to  erect  a 
strong  redoubt  and  blockhouse,  with  some  suitable  cannon  from 
Fort  Washington,"  the  expedition  of  Wayne  remained  in  compara- 
tive quiet  at  the  different  posts,  (Jefferson,  Greenville,  Recovery, 
&c.,)  till  the  morning  of  the  30th  of  June,  '94  when  Major 

*\Vliich  formerly  stood  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  the  town  of  Greenville,  Darke 
county,  Ohio. 

fin  February,  1791,  Lord  Dorchester,  then  Governor-general  of  Canada,  at  a  council 
of  chiefs  at  Quebec,  told  the  Indians  "that  he  should  not  be  surprised  if  Groat  Britain 
and  the  United  States  were  at  war  in  course  of  thvyear."  Hence  their  encouragement 
i  n  part,  at  least.  It  was  about  this  period  also  that  France  was  experiencing  much 
trouble  of  a  revolutionary  nature,  and  that  Genet,  the  French  Minister  in  this  country, 
had  sought  to  raise  a  body  of  troops,  etc.,  to  move  against  the  Spaniards  of  Florida  and 
Louisiana.  Lord  Dorchester,  doubtless  infering  that  such  a  movement,  aided  by  the 
United  States,  would  soon  precipitate  the  t\vo  countries  into  a  war  again,  was  must, 
probably  led  to  cneouraj?e  the  Indians  by  the  remark  quoted  above.  A  proclamation. 
was  is-jued  by  Washington  against  tho  movement .  March  24, 1794.  ( 10) 


146  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

McMahon,  commanding,  with  an  escort  of  ninety  riflemen  and  fifty 
dragoons,  was  fiercely  assailed  by  a  body  of  some  lifteen  hundred 
Indians  "under  the  walls  of  Fort  .Recovery."  Assisted,  as  was 
thought,  by  a  "number  of  British  agents  and  a  few  French  Cana- 
dian volunteers,"  the  Indians,  during  a  period  of  about  twen- 
ty-four hours,  made  several  sallies  upon  this  fort,  but  finding  their 
efforts  unavailable,  retired.  The  loss,  however,  to  the  garrison  was 
by  no  means  trifling — twenty-two  men  being  killed,  and  thirty 
wounded,  and  three  were  missing;  two  hundred  and  twenty-ouo 
horses  were  also  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  The  Indians  hav- 
ing been  engaged  in  carrying  away  their  dead  during  the  ni^ht, 
but  eight  or  ten  of  their  Avarriors  were  found  dead  near  the  fort. 
Major  McMahon,  Captain  Hartghornc,  Lieutenant  Craig,  and  Cor- 
net Torry,  tell  on  this  occasion. 

Major-General  Scott,  with  some  sixteen  hundred  mounted  volun- 
teers, having  arrived  at  Fort  Greenville,  on  the  2b'th  of  July,  ('04), 
and  joined  the  regulars  under  General  Wayne,  on  the  28th  of  July, 
the  army  began  its  march  upon  the  Indian  villages  along  the  Mau- 
mee.  On  this  march,  some  twenty-four  miles  to  the  north  of  Fort 
Recovery,  Wayne  had  built  and  garrisoned  a  small  Post,  which  he 
called  Fort  Adams.  From  this  point,  on  the  4th  of  August,  the 
army  moved  toward  the  confluence  of  the  Auglaize  and  Manmeo 
rivers,  where  they  arrived  on  the  8th  of  August.  At  this  point,  "  a 
strong  stockade  fort,  with  four  good  stockhouses,  by  way  of  bas- 
tions," was  soon  concluded,  which  was  called  by  Gen.  Wayne  Fort 
Defiance.  On  the  14th  of  August.  General  Wayne  wrote  as  fol- 
lows to  the  Secretary  of  War  :  "  I  have,"  said  he,  "  the  honor  to  in- 
form you  that  the  army  under  niy  command  took  possession  of 
this  very  important  post  on  the  morninjj  of  the  8th  instant — the  ene- 
my, on  the  preceding  evening,  having  abandoned  all  their  settle- 
ments, towns,  and  villages,  with  such  apparent  marks  of  surprise 
and  precipitation,  as  to  amount  to  a  positive  proof  that  our  ap- 
proach was  not  discerned  by  them  until  the  arrival  of  a  Mr.  New- 
man, oi'  the  quartermaster-general's  department,  who  deserted  from 
the  army  near  the  St.  Mary's.  *  *  *  1  had  made  such  demon- 
strations, for  a  length  of  time  previously  to  taking  up  our  line  of 
march,  as  to  induce  the  savages  to  expect  our  advance  by  the  route 
of  the  Miami  villages,  to  the  left,  or  toward  Roche  de  Bout,  by  the 
right — which  feints  appear  to  have  pioduced  the  desired  effect,  by 
drawing  the  attention  of  the  enemy  to  those  points,  and  gave  an 
opening  for  the  army  to  approach  undiscovered  by  a  devious,  i.  e., 
tat  a  central  direction.  Thus,  sir,  we  have  gained  possession  of  the 
£rand  emporium  of  the  hostile  Indians  of  the  west,  without  loss  of 
tbloG<t.  *  Everything  is  now  prepared  for  a  forward 

tmove  to-morrow  morniiu: 'toward  Roche  de  Bouto,  or  foot  of  the 
rapids.  Yet  I  have  thought  proper  to  offer  the   enemy 

=a  last  overture  of  peace ;  and  as  they  have  everything  that  is   dear 
and  interesting  now  at  stake,  I  have  reason  to  expect  that  they  will 


WAYNE'S  EFFORTS  FOK  PEACE — WM.  WELLS.  147 

listen  to  the  proposition  mentioned  in  the  enclosed  copy  of  an  ad- 
dress, dispatched  yesterday  by  a  special  flag  (Christopher  Miller,) 
who  I  sent  under  circumstances  that  will  insure  his  sale  return,  and 
which  may  eventually  spare  the  effusion  of  much  human  blood. 
But  should  war  be  their  choice,  that  blood  be  upon  their  own  heads. 
America  shall  no  longer  be  insulted  with  impunity.  To  an  all- 
powerful  and  just  God  I  therefore  commit  myself  and  gallant 
army." 

In  his  address  to  the  Indians,  as  dispatched  by  Miller  "  to  the 
Delewares,  Shawanees,  Miamis,  and  Wyandots,  and  to  each  and 
every  of  them  ;  and  to  all  other  nations  of  Indians  northwest  of  the 
Ohio,  whom  it  may  concern,"  said  General  Wayne :  "  Brothers- 
Be  no  longer  deceived  or  led  astray  by  the  false  promises  and  lan- 
guage of  the  bad  white  men  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids :  they  have 
neither  the  power  nor  inclination  to  protect  you.  No  longer  shut 
your  eyes  to  your  true  interest  and  happiness,  nor  your  ears  to  this 
last  overture  of  peace.  But,  in  pity  to  your  innocent  women  and 
children,  come  and  prevent  the  further  effusion  of  your  blood.  Let 
them  experience  the  kindness  and  friendship  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  the  invaluable  blessings  of  peace  and  tranquility." 
He  urged  them  also — "  each  and  every  hostile  tribe  of  Indians  to 
appoint  deputies  "  to  assemble  without  delay  at  the  junction  of  the 
Auglaiee  and  foot  of  the  rapids,  "  in  order  to  settle  the  prelimina- 
ries of  a  lasting  peace."  The  answer  brought  by  Miller  on  his  re- 
turn, on  the  16th,  was,  "  that  if  he  (General  Wayne)  waited  where 
he  was  ten  days,  and  then  sent  Miller  for  them,  they  would  treat 
with  him;  but  that  if  he  advanced,  they  would  give  him  battle." 

The  slow  movement  of  Wayne  towards  the  Miami  village  had 
caused  many  of  the  Indians  to  feel  no  little  distrust  as  to  their  abili- 
ty to  defeat  the  great  chief*  of  the  Americans  who  was  creeping 
so  cautiously  upon  their  strongholds. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Wells,  already  referred  to  in  a  previous 
chapter,  who,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  had  been  captured  in  Ken- 
tucky and  adopted  by  the  Miamies,  and  who  had  lived  to  manhood 
and  raised  a  family  among  them,  just  prior  to  the  advance  of  the 
army  towards  the  rapids,  began  to  feel  a  new  awakening  in  his 
mind.  He  had  fought  by  the  side  of  Little  Turtle  against  both 
Ilarmar  and  St.  Clair ;  and  it  was  said  of  him,  that  "  afterwards,  in 
the  times  of  calm  reflection,  with  dim.  memories  still  of  his  child- 
hood home,  of  brothers  and  playmates,  he  seemed  to  have  been 
harrowed  with  the  thought  that  amongst  the  slain,  by  his  own  hand, 
may  have  been  his  kindred."  He  had  resolved  to  break  his  at- 
tachment to  the  tribe,  even  to  his  wife  and  children.  In  this  state 
of  mind,  with  much  of  the  Indian  characteristics,  inviting  the  war 
chief  of  the  Miamiea— Little  Turtle — to  accompany  him  to  a  point 
on  the  Maumee,  about  two  miles  oust  of  Fort  Wayne,  at  what  was 
long  known  as  the  "  Big  Elm,"  whither  they  at  once  repaired.  Wo  11* 
*i<Yom  his  gw.-jt  vigifcnCi,  Wayne  was otxl led  liy  fl'e  Indians  the  Black  Snuke, 


148  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

readily  told  the  chief  his  purpose.  "I  now  leave  your  nation," 
said  he,  "  for  my  own  people.  We  have  long  been  friends.  We 
are  friends  yet,  until  the  sun  reaches  a  certain  height,  (which  was 
mentioned).  From  that  time  we  are  enemies.  Then  if  you  wish  to 
kill  me,  you  may.  If  I  want  to  kill  you,  I  may."  When  the  time 
indicated  had  come,  Capt.  Wells  crossed  the  river,  and  was  soon 
lost  to  the  view  of  his  old  friend  and  chieftain,  Little  Turtle.  Mov- 
ing in  an  easterly  course,  with  a  view  to  striking  the  trail  of  Wayne's 
forces,  he  was  successful  in  obtaining  an  interview  with  the  Gen- 
eral, and  ever  thereafter  proved  the  fast  friend  of  the  Americans.* 
The  resolute  movement  of  Wells  was  a  severe  blow  upon  the  Miam- 
ies.  To  Turtle's  mind  it  seemed  to  have  been  an  unmistakable 
foreboding  of  sure  and  speedy  defeat  to  the  confederated  tribes  of 
the  northwest,  as  already  referred  to. 

In  accordance  with  previous  arrangements,  on  the  15th  of  Au- 
gust, General  Wayne  moved  with  his  forces  towards  the  foot  of  the 
rapids,  and  came  to  a  halt  a  few  miles  above  that  point,  on 
the  18th,  and  the  next  day  began  the  erection  of  a  temporary 
garrison,  more  especially  for  the  reception  of  stores,  baggage,  and 
the  better  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy's  ground,  which  lay  "  behind  a 
thick,  bushy  wood,  and  the  British  ibrt."t  This  post  was  called 
u  Fort  Deposit." 

The  Miamies  were  now  undecided  as  to  the  policy  of  attacking 
General  Wayne,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they,  with  the  aid  of 
other  tribes,  and  through  the  influence  of  the  British,  had  succeeded 
in  defeating  the  former  expeditions  of  Harmar  and  St.  Glair.  At  a 
general  council  of  the  confederated  tribes,  held  on  the  19th  of  Au- 
gust, Little  Turtle  was  most  earnest  in  his  endeavors  to  pnrsuade  a 
peace  with  general  Wayne.  Said  he,  "  we  have  beaten  the  enemy 
twice  under  different  commanders.  We  cannot  expect  the  same 
good  fortune  to  altend  us  always.  The  Americans  are  now  ;lcdjjby 
u  chief  who  never  sleeps.  The  nights  and  the  days  are  alike  to  him, 
and  during  all  the  time  that  he  has  been  marching  on  our  villages, 
notwithstanding  the  watchfulness  of  our  young  men,  we  have  never 
been  able  to  surprise  him.  Think  well  of  it.  There  is  something 
whispers  me,  it  would  be  prudent  to  listen  to  his  offers  of  peace." 
But  his  words  of  wisdom  were  but  little  regarded.  One  of  the  chiefs 
of  the  council  even  went  so  far  as  to  charge  him  with  cowardice, 
which  ho  readily  enough  spurned,  for  there  were  none  braver  or 


•After  the  arrival  here  of  the  army  tinder  Wayne,   "Wells   Traa  made  captain  of 
Spies,  ami  <*.-uling  atthc  "  Old  Orchard,"  a  short  distance  from   the  confluence  of 


the 
the 

St.  Mai-y  and  St.  Joseph,  on  the  bunk*  of  a  little  stream  there,  afterwards  called  "  Spy 
Ron,"  aiul  which  still  bears  that  name,  the  government  subsequently  grunted  him  a 
pre-emption  of  eome  three  hundred  and  twenty  ticrcs  of  land  thereabout,  including  his 
improvement  thereon,  the  old  ore!) urd,  etc.  Wells  afterwards,  also  became,  bv  ap- 
pointment Of  the  Government,  Indian  Agent  here,  in  which  capacity  he  served  for  sev- 
«rul  years. 

fThi*  fort,  at  the  foot  of  the  Rapids,  called  Fort  Miami,  was  about  seven  miles  from 
Fort  Deposit,  aud  stood  on  the  northwestern  bank  of  the  Mnumee,  near  \vhere  Maumeo 
City  now  stands. 


GKNEKAL  WAYNE'S  REPOKT  TO  SECKETARY  KNOX.          149 

more  ready  to  act  where  victory  was  to  be  won  or  a  defense  re- 
quired, than  Little  Turtle,  and  so,  without  further  parley,  the  coun- 
cil broke  up,  and  Turtle,  at  the  head  of  his  braves,  took  his  stand  to 
meet  and  give  battle  to  the  advancing  army.  v 

"  At  eic.-ht  o'clock,"  says  Wayne,  in  his  report  to  Secretary  Knox, 
on  the  28th  of  August,  1704,  "  on  the  morning  of  the  20th,  the  ar-uy 
again  advanced  in  columns,  agreeably  to  the  standing  order  of 
march  ;  the  legion  on  the  right,  its  flank  covered  by  the  Maumee : 
one  brigade  of  mounted  volunteers  on  the  left,  under  Brigadier-gen- 
eral Todd,  and  the  other  in  the  rear,  under  Brigadier-general  Bar- 
bee.  A  select  battallion  of  mounted  volunteers  moved  in  front  of 
the  legion,  commanded  by  Major  Price,  who  was  directed  to  keep 
sufficiently  advanced,  so  as  to  give  timely  notice  for  tke  troops  to 
ibrm  in  case  of  action,  it  being  yet  undetermined  whether  the  In- 
dians would  decide  lor  peace  or  war. 

"  After  advancing  about  five  miles,"  continued  the  report,  "  Ma- 
jor Price's  corps  received  so  severe  a  fire  from  the  enemy,  who  were 
secreted  in  the  woods  and  high  grass,  as  to  compel  them  to  retreat. 
The  legion  was  immediately  formed  in  two  lines,  principally  in  a 
close,  thick  wood,  which  extended  for  miles  on  our  left,  and  for  a 
very  considerable  distance  in  front,  the  ground  being  covered  with 
old  fallen  timber,  probably  occasioned  by  a  tornado,  which  ren- 
dered it  impracticable  for  the  cavalry  to  act  with  etlect,  and  afford- 
ed the  enemy  the  most  favorable  covert  for  their  mode  of  warfare. 
The  savages  were  formed  in  three  lines,  within  supporting  distance 
of  each  other,  and  extending  for  near  two  miles,  at  right  angles  with 
the  river.  I  soon  discovered,  from  the  weight  of  the  fire  and  ex- 
tent of  their  lines,  that  the  enemy  were  in  full  force  in  front,  in  pos- 
session of  their  favorite  ground,  and  endeavoring  to  turn  our  left 
flank.  I  therefore  gave  orders  for  the  second  line  to  advance  and 
support  the  first;  and  directed  Major-general  Scott  to  gain  and  turn 
the  right  Hank  of  the  savages,  with  the  whole  of  the  mounted  vol- 
unteers, by  a  circuitous  route ;  at  the  same  time  I  ordered  the  front 
line  to  advance  and  charge  with  trailed  arms,  and  rouse  the  Indians 
from  their  coverts  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  when  up,  to  de- 
liver a  close  and  well-directed  fire  on  their  backs,  followed  by  a 
brisk  charge,  so  as  not  to  give  them  time  to  load  again. 

"  I  also  ordered  Captain  Mis  Campbell,  who  commanded  the  leg- 
ionary cavalry,  to  turn  the  left  flank  of  the  enemy  next  the  river, 
and  which  afforded  a  favorable  field  for  that  corps  to  act  in.  All 
these  orders  were  obeyed  with  spirit  and  promptitude  ;  but  such 
was  the  impetnousity  of  the  charge  by  the  first  line  of  infantry,  that 
the  Indians  and  Canadian,  militia  and  volunteers  were  drove  from 
all  their  coverts  in  so  short  a  time,  that,  although  every  possible  ex- 
ertion was  used  by  the  officers  of  the  second  line  of  the  legion,  and 
by  Generals  Scott,  Todd,  and  Barbee,  of  the  mounted  volunteers,  to 
gain  their  proper  positions,  but  part  of  each  could  get  up  in  season 
to  participate  in  the  action  ;  the  enemy  being  drove,  in  the  course 


1 50  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

of  one  hour,  more  than  two  miles  through  the  thick  woods  already 
Mirntioned  by  less  than  one-half  their  numbers.  From  every  ac- 
count, the  enemy  amounted  to  two  thousand  combatants.  The 
troops  actually  engaged  against  them  were  short  of  nine  hundred.* 
This  horde  of  savages,  with  their  allies,  abandoned  themselves  to 
flight,  and  dispersed  with  terror  and  dismay,  leaving  our  victorious 
arm}''  in  full  and  quiet  possession  of  the  field  of  battle,  which  term- 
inated under  the  influence  of  the  guns  of  the  British  garrison." 

The  wisdom,  foresight  and  valor  of  Little  Turtle  were  now  no 
longer  to  be  questioned.  At  the  Indian  council,  on  the  night  be- 
fore the  attack,  he  clearly  saw  the  end  of  all  their  efforts  against 
the  army  of  Wayne;  and  the  Indians  soon  began  to  feel  and  realize 
that  their  main  hold  upon  the  northwest  was  broken  forever. 

Though  it  is  not  positively  known  whether  Tecumseh  was  at  the 
council  or  not,  the  night  before  the  battle,  yet  it  is  authentically 
recorded,  in  the  life  of  this  chief,  in  accordance  with  the  following 
account  by  Anthony  Shane,  that  he  led  a  party  of  Shawanoes  in 
the  attack  upon  the  army  of  General  Wayne.  And  it  was  in  this 
engagement  that  he  first  encountered  the  white  chief,  Gen.  Harri- 
son, then  a  Lieutenant,  with  whom,  a  few  years  later,  he  had  so  much 
dealing.  Says  the  account  of  Shane :  He  occupied  an  advanced 
position  In  the  battle,  and  while  attempting  to  load  his  rifle,  he  put 
in  a  bullet  before  the  powder,  and  was  thus  unable  to  use  his  gun. 
Being  at  this  moment  pressed  in  front  by  some  infantry,  he  fell 
back  with  his  party,  till  they  met  another  detachment  of  Indians. 
Tecumseh  urged  them  to  stand  fast  and  fight,  saying  if  any  one 
would  lend  him  a  gun,  he  would  show  them  how  to  use  it.  A  fowl- 
ing-piece was  handed  to  him,  with  which  he  fought  for  some  time, 
till  the  Indians  were  again  compelled  to  give  ground.  While  fall- 
ing back,  he  met  another  party  of  Shawanoes ;  and,  although  the 
whites  were  pressing  on  them,  he  rallied  the  Indians,  and  induced 
them  to  make  a  stand  in  a  thicket.  When  the  infantry  pressed 
close  upon  them,  and  had  discharged  their  muskets  into  the  bushes, 
Tecumseh  and  his  party  returned  the  fire,  and  then  retreated  till 
they  had  joined  the  main  body  of  the  Indians  below  the  rapids  of 
the  Maumee. 

As  presented  in  the  foregoing  report, "  the  bravery  and  conduct 
of  every  officer  belonging  to  the  army,  from  the  generals  down  to 
the  ensign,"  merited  the  "  highest  approbation.  There  were,  how- 
ever, some,"  says 'Way  ue,  "whose  rank  and  situation  placed  their 
conduct  in  a  very  conspicuous  point  of  view,  and  which  I  observed 
with  pleasure,  and  the  most  lively  gratitude.  Among  whom,  I 
must  beg  leave  to  mention  Brigadier-general  Wilkinson,  and  Col. 

•The  exact  number  of  Indians  entraged  in  this  action,  against  Wayne's  army  h«s 
never  be«n  ascertained.  There  were,  however,  about  450  Delawares,  175  Miamies,  275 
Shawaneaa,  225  Ottawas,275  Wyandotte,  and  a  small  number  of  Senecas,  Pottawntta- 
mies,  and  Chippewas.  Tho  mimlx-r  of  white  men  who  fought  in  defeBM  of  the  Indian* 
in  this  engagement,  was  about  seventy,  including  a  corps  of  volunteers  from  Detroit, 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Caldwell.— His.  lud. 


WAYNE'S  VICTORY  AT  THE  RAPIDS— KILLED,  WOUNDED,  &c.     151 

Hamtramck,  the  commandants  of  the  right  and  left  wings  of  the 
legion,  whose  brave  example  inspired  the  troops.  To  those  I 
must  add,"  said  he,  "  the  names  of  my  faithful  and  gallant  aids-de- 
camp, Captain  De  Butt  and  T.  Lewis;  and  Lieutenant  Harrison, 
who,  with  the  adjutant-general,  Major  Mills,  rendered  the  most  es- 
sential service  by  communicating  my  orders  in  every  direction,  and 
by  their  conduct  and  bravery  exciting  the  troops  to  press  for  vic- 
tory. Lieutenant  Covington,  upon  whom  the  command  of  the  cav- 
alry now  devolved,  cut  down  two  savages  with  his  own  hand ;  and 
Lieutenant  Webb  one,  in  turning  the  enemy's  left  flank.  The 
wounds  received  by  Captains  Slough  and  Pri.tr,  and  Lieutenant 
Campbell  Smith,  an  extra  aid-de-camp  to  General  Wilkinson,  of  the 
legionary  infantry,  and  Captain  Van  Kenssclear,  of  the  dragoons, 
Captain  Rawlins,  Lieutenant  McKenny,  and  Ensign  Duncan,  of  the 
mounted  volunteers,  bear  honorable  testimony  of  their  bravery  and 
conduct. 

"  Captains  H.  Lewis  and  Brock,  with  their  companies  of  light 
infantry,  had  to  sustain  an  unequal  fire  for  some  time,  which  they 
supported  with  fortitude.  In  fact,  every  officer  and  soldier,  who 
had  an  opportunity  to  come  into  action,  displayed  that  true  bravery 
which  will  always  ensure  success.  And  here  permit  me  to  declare, 
that  I  never  discovered  more  true  spirit  and  auxiety  for  action,  than 
appeared  to  pervade  the  whole  of  the  mounted  volunteers  :  and  I 
am  well  persuaded  that,  had  the  enemy  maintained  their  favorite 
ground  for  one-half  hour  longer,  they  would  have  most  severely 
felt  the  prowess  of  that  corps.  But,  while  I  pay  this  tribute  to  the 
living,  I  must  not  neglect  the  gallant  dead,  among  whom  we  have 
to  lament  the  early  death  of  those  worthy  and  brave  officers,  Cap- 
tain Mis  Campbell,  of  the  dragoons,  and  Lieutenant  Towles,  of  the 
light,  infantry,  of  the  legion,  who  fell  in  the  first  charge." 

Of  the  killed  and  wounded,  in  this  engagement,  according  to  the 
report  of  General  Wayne,  the  regular  troops,  lost  twenty-six  killed, 
and  eighty-seven  wounded.  Of  the  Kentucky  volunteers,  seven 
were  killed  and  thirteen  were  wounded ;  and  nine  regulnrs  and  two 
volunteers  died  of  their  wounds  before  the  28th  of  the  month.  The 
loss  of  the  enemy  was  more  than  twice  that  of  the  army  under 
Wayne;  and  "the  woods  were  strewn  for  a  considerable  distance 
with  the  dead  bodies  of  Indians." 

Wayne's  victory  was  now  complete.  It  was  short  and  decisive  ; 
and  after  remaining  "  three  days  and  nights  on  the  banks  of  the 
Maumee,  in  front  of  the  field  of  battle,  during  which  time  all  the 
houses  and  cornfields  (of  the  enemy)  were  consumed  and  destroyed 
for  a  considerable  distance  both  above  and  below  Fort  Miami,  as 
well  as  within  pistol  shot  of  the  garrison,  who  were  compelled  to 
remain  tacit  spectators  to  this  general  devastation  and  conflagra1- 
tion  ;  among  which  were  the  houses,  stores,  and  property  of  Col- 
onel McKee,  the  British  Indian  agent,  and  principal  stimulator  of 
the  war  now  existing  between  the  United  States  and  the  sav- 


152  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

ages,"*  on  the  27th,  the  army  started  upon  its  return  march  for 
Fort  Defiance,  laying  waste,  as  it  moved,  villages  and  cornfields  for 
a  distance  of  some  fifty  miles  along  the  Maumee. 

It  will  be  proper  here  to  mention,  that  while  the  American  forces 
occupied  their  position  within  range  of  the  British  fortf  at  the  rap- 
ids, from  the  afternoon  of  the  20th  to  the  forenoon  of  the  23d,  five 
letters  passed  between  the  British  commander  (Major  Campbell) 
and  General  Wayne  ;  the  first  coming  from  the  British  command- 
ant, enquiring  the  cause  of  the  army  of  the  United  States  approach- 
ing so  near  his  majesty's  fort — that  he  knew  "  of  no  war  existing 
between  Great  Britain  and  America,"  etc.  To  which  Gen.  Wayne 
replied:  "  Without  questioning  the  authority  or  the  propriety,  sir, 
of  your  interrogatory,  I  think  I  may,  without  breach  of  decorum, 
observe  to  you,  that,  were  }^ou  entitled  to  an  answer,  the  most  full 
and  satisfactory  one  was  announced  to  you  from  the  muzzles  of  my 
small  arms,  yesterday  morning,  in  the  action  against  the  horde  of 
savages  in  the  vicinity  of  your  post,  which  terminated  gloriously  to 
the  American  arms ;  but,  had  it  continued  until  the  Indians,  etc., 
were  driven  under  the  influence  of  the  post  and  guns  you  mention, 
they  would  not  have  much  impeded  the  progress  of  the  victorious 
army  under  my  command,  as  no  such  post  was  established  at  the 
commencement  of  the  present  wrar  between  the  Indians  and  the 
United  States."  To  which,  in  turn,  the  British  commandant,  having 
taken  the  rejoinder  of  Wayne  as  an  insult  to  the  British  flag,  threat- 
ened to  open  his  batteries  upon  the  American  forces,  should  they 
continue  to  approach  his  post  "  in  the  threatening  manner  "  they 
were  then  doing,  etc.  Wayne's  reply  was  this  time  to  the  effect 
that  he  also  knew  of  no  war  then  existing  between  Great  Britain  and 
America — reminding  him  of  the  definitive  treaty  of  1783 — showing 
him  that  Great  Britain  was  then  and  there  maintaining  a  post  be- 
yond the  limits  and  stipulations  of  that  treaty  ;  and  ordering  him  to 
retire  peacefully  within  the  limits  of  the  British  lines.  To  which 
the  British  commandant  replied  that  he  certainly  would  not  aban- 
don the  post  at  the  summons  of  any  power  whatever,  until  he  re- 
ceived orders  to  that  effect  from  those  he  had  the  honor  to  serve 
under,  or  the  fortunes  of  war  should  oblige  him  so  to  act ;  and  still 
firmly  adhered  to  his  previous  proposition,  or  threat.  And  thus 
the  controversy  ended. 

Reaching  Fort  Defiance  a  gain,  the  army  soon  began  repairs  upon 
the  fort,  in  order  to  render  it  the  more  substantial  in  its  general 
structure;  and  here  the  army  remained  till  the  morning  of  the  14th 
of  September,  1794,  when  "the  legion  began  their  march  for  the 
Miami  village,"  (this  point)  whither  they  arrived  at  5  o'clock, 
P.  M.,  on  the  17th  of  September,  arid  on  the  following  day,  the 

"Wayne's  report. 

t  At  the  period  of  Wayne's  engagement  near  the  rapids,  there  were  about  2">0  regu- 
lars and  2!0  militia  in  this  fort,  with  "  four  nine-pounders,  two  large  howitzers,  and 
six  six- pounders  mounted  in  the  foit,  mnd  two  swivels. " — American  State  papers. 


JOUKNAL  OF  WAYNE'S  CAMrAiGN.  153 

troops  fortified  their  camps,  while  "  the  commander-in-chief  re- 
connoitered  the  ground  and  determined  on  the  spot  to  build  a  gar- 
rison."* 

The  history  of  events,  from  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  Wayne  and 
his  army  at  the  Miami  village,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  17th,  to  the 
completion  of  the  fort,  will  be  partially  seen,  at  least,  from  the  fol- 
lowing dates  at  the  Miami  village,  as  presented  in  the  daily  j 
of  Wayne's  campaign: 

Camp  Miami  Villages,  ISth  Sep.  1794. — *  *  *  *  Four  deserters  from 
the  British  came  to  us  this  day  ;  they  bring  the  information  that  the  Indians  are  en- 
camped 8  miles  below  the  British  fort,  to  the  number  of  1600. 

20th  Sf.p. —  Last  night  it  rained  violently  and  the  wind  blew  from  the  N.  W.  harder 
than  I  knew  heretofore.  Gen.  Barber  vrith  his  command  arrived  in  camp  about  9 
o'clock  this  morning  with  553  kegs  of  flour,  each  containing  100  pounds. 

'23d Sep. —  Four  deserters  from  the  British  garrison  arrived  at  our  camp;  they 
mention  that  the  Indian*  are  still  euibodiedon  the  Miami,  9  miles  below  the  British 
fort ;  that  they  are  somewhat  divided  in  opinion,  some  are  for  peace  and  others  for 
war. 

24fA  Sep. — This  day  the  work  commenced  on  (he  garrison,  which  T  am  apprehen- 
sive will  take  sometime  to  complete  it.  A  keg  of  whisky  containing  ten  gallons, 
was  purchased  this  day  for  eighty  dollars,  a  sheep  for  ten  dollars  ;  three  dollars  was 
olFered  for  one  pint  of  salt,  but  it  could  not  be  obtained  for  less  than  six. 

25th  Sep. — Lieutenant  Blue,  of  the  dragoons,  was  this  day  arrested  by  ensign 
Johnson,  of  the  4th.  S.  L.,  but  a  number  of  their  friends  interfering,  the  dispute  was 
settled  upon  lieutenaut  Blue  asking  Johnson's  pardon. 

2$th  Sep. — M'Cleland,  one  of  our  spies,  with  a  small  party  came  in  this  evening 
from  Fort  Defiance,  who  brings  information  that  the  enemy  are  troublesome  about 
the  garrison,  an-!  that  they  have  killed  some  of  our  men  under  the  walls  of  the  fort. 
Sixteen  Indians  were  seen  to-day  near  this  place  ;  a  small  party  went  in  pursuit  of 
them.  I  have  not  heard  what  discoveries  they  have  made. 

30th  Sep. — Salt  and  whisky  were  drawn  by  the  troops  this  day,  and  a  number  of 
thesoldiiry  became  much  intoxicated,  they  havingstolen  a  quantity  of  liquor  from 
the  quartermaster. 

4th  Oct. — This  morning  we  had  the  hardest  frost  I  ever  saw  in  the  middle  of  De- 
cember, it  was  like  a  small  snow  ;  there  was  ice  in  our  camp.kettles  J  of  an  inch 
thick;  the  fatigues  goon  with  velocity,  considering  the  rations  the  troops  are  obliged 
to  live  on. 

bth  Oct. — The  weather  extremely  cold,  and  hard  frosts,  the  wind  N.  W.  ;  every 
thing  quiet  and  nothing  but  harmony  and  peace  throughout  the  oaaip,  which  is  some- 
thing uncommon. 

6th  Oct.. — Plenty  and  quietness  the  samo  as  yesterday;  the  volunteers  engaged  to 
work  on  the  garrison,  for  which  they  nre  to  rcceive-three  gills  of  whisky  per  man  per 
day:  their  employment  is  digging  the  ditch  and  filling  up  the  parapet. 

8/A  Oct. — The  troop:?  drew  but  half  rations  of  flour  this  day.  '  The  cavalry  and 
other  horses  die  very  fast,  not  less  than  four  or  five  per  day. 

Oth  Oct.  —  The  volunteers  have  agreed  to  build  a  block-house  in  front  of  the  gar- 
rison. 

llth  Oct. — A  Canadian  (Rozelie)  with  a  flag  arrived  this  evening;  his  business 
was  to  deliver  up  three  prisoners  in  exchange  for  his  brother,  who  was  taken  on  the 
20th  August ;  he  brings  information  that  the  Indians  are  in  council  with  Qirty  and 
M'Kee  near  the  fort  of  Detroit,  that  all  the  tribes  are  for  peace  except  the  Shawan- 
ees,  who  are  determined  to  prosecute  the  war. 

]<>th  Oct. — Nothing  new,  weather  wet,  and  cold,  wind  from  N.  W.  The  troops 
healthy  in  general. 

l~th  Oct. — This  day  Captain  Gibson  arrived  with  a  large  quantity  of  flour,  beef, 
and  sheep. 

10th  Oct. — This  day  the  troops  were  not  ordered  for  labor,  being  the  first  daf  for 
four  weeks,  and  accordingly  attended  divine  service. 

*Daily  journal  Wayne's  compaign. 


154  HISTORY  OF  FORT    WAYXE. 

2(VA  Oct. — An  express  arrived  this  day  with  dispatches  to  the  comniander-in- 
chicf:  til*-  contents  are  kepi  secret. 

A  court-mnriinl  to  sit  this  day  for  the  triftl  of  Charles  Hyde. 

'2\*t  Oct. — This  day  yere  rend  the  proceedings  of  n,  goner:il  coin-'  ninriial.  held  on 
lieutenant  Charles  Hyde,  (yesterday)  was  found  not  guilty  of  the  charges  exhibited 
against  him,  and  was  therefore  acquitted. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  October,  1794,  the  garrison  was 
in  readiness,  and  Lieutenant-colonel  Uamtramck  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  I'ost,  with  the  following  sub-legions:  Captain  Kings- 
bury's  1st;  Captain  Greaton's  2d;  Captains  Spark's  and  Reed's  3d; 
Captain  Preston's  4th;  and  Captain  Porters  of  artillery;  and  after 
firing  iifteen  rounds  of  cannon,  Colonel  Hamtramck  gave  it  the 
name  of  FORT  WAYNE. 

And  here  was  the  starting-point  of  a  new  era  in  civilization  in 
the  great  northwest ! 

On  the  28th  of  October,  having  completed  his  work  at  the  point 
now  bearing  his  name,  General  Wayne,  with  the  main  body  of  the 
regulars,  took  up  his  line  of  march  for  Fort  Greenville,  arriving  at 
that  point  on  the  2d  ot  November. 

Early  in  September  the  news  of  Wayne's  victory  had  spread  over 
a  large  part  of  the  country,  and  operated  most  favorably  for  the 
government.  It  not  only  removed  the  dissatisfaction  to  which  the 
great  delays  attending  the  campaign  had  given  rise,  but  it  was  the 
best  possible  illustration  of  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  pro- 
tection of  the  general  government,  which  had  been  greatly  under- 
rated. As  a  permanent  peace  with  the  Indians  was  now  consid- 
ered certain,  this  increased  the  desire  for  tranquility  at  home.  And 
the  troubles  which,  but  a  short  period  before,  had  threatened  to  in- 
volve the  government  in  much  trouble,  through  the  desire  of  Genet 
and  his  followers  to  move  upon  the  Spaniards  of  the  Lower  Mis- 
sissippi, began  greatly  to  dispirit  the  insurgents ;  and  by  the  first 
of  October,  ('94)  tranquility  and  good  order  were  in  a  great  meas- 
ure restored  throughout  the  country.*  , 

After  the  close  of  the  engagement  of  the  20th  of  August,  Wayne 
continued  to  invite  the  Indians  to  a  friendly  meeting,  with  a  view 
t<»  permanent  peace  between  the  tribes  and  the  United  States.  But 
the  Indians,  for  some  time,  seemed  to  be  balancing  between  a  de- 
sire still  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Americans  and  the  hope  of  "  ef- 
fectual support  from  the  British,"  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  fear  of  ulti- 
mate defeat  on  the  other,let  their  own  stiength  or  aid  from  the  English 
be  as  formidable  as  it  might ;  and  while  Wayne  was  inviting  them  to 
meet  him  at  Greenville  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  him  there, "  Lieu- 
tenant-general Simcoe,  Col.  McKee,  and  other  officers  of  the  British 
Indian  department,  persuaded  Little  Turtle,  Blue  Jacket,  Buck-ong- 
a-helas,  and  other  distinguished  chiefs,  to  agree  to  hold  an  Indian 
council  at  the  mouth  of  Detroit  river.''f 

The  troubles  with  England,  which  had,  but  a  few  months  before, 
threatened  to  break  out  into  warfare  a^ain.  were  now,  through  the 

*  American  Pioneer.  ^Dillon's  His'  Ind. 


LKTTEKS  OF  COL.  HAMTKAMCK,  155 

'wisdom  of  Washington,  in  a  great  measure,  and  the  admirable  ef- 
forts of  John  Jay,  as  envoy  extraordinary  from  this  country  to  the 
court  of  St.  James,  amicably  adjusted  in  the  conclusion  of"  a  treaty 
of  amity,  commerce,  and  navigation,  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain."  This  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  19th  of  No- 
vember; and  one  of  its  main  stipulations  was  that  of  a  withdrawal, 
"  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  June,  1796,  all  (of  the  Kings)  troops 
and  garrisons,  from  all  posts  and  places  within  the  boundry  lines 
assigned  to  the  United  States  by  the.  treaty  of  peace  of  1783." 

The  news  of  this  treaty  having  reached  America,  .the  Indians 
soon  felt  their  last  hope  of  aid  from  the  English  fading  away,  and 
began  seriously  to  think  of  peace  ;  and  during  the  months  of  .Decem- 
ber and  January,  1794-5,  small  parties  of  Miamies,  Ottawas,  Chip- 
pewas,  Pottavvattamies,  Sacs,  Delawares,  and  Shawanoes  began  to 
visit  General  Wayne  at  his  headquarters  at  Greenville,  signing  re- 
spectively, preliminary  articles  of  peace,  and  agreeing  "  to  meet 
Wayne  at  Greenville  on  or  about  the  15th  of  June,  1795,  with  all 
the  sachems  and  war-chiefs  of  their  nations,"  with  a  view  of  arrang- 
ing a  final  treaty  of  peace  andainity  between  the  United  States  and 
the  Indians  of  the  northwestern  territory. 

During  the  period  that  elapsed  between  the  departure  (28th  of 
October,)  of  Wayne  for  Fort  Greenville  from  the  newly  completed 
garrison  bearing  his  name  here,  until  the  17th  of  May  1796,  •  Col. 
Hamtramck  remained  in  command  at  Fort  Wayne;  and  though 
nothing  of  a  very  important  nature  transpired  during  that  time,  yet 
there  is  much  of  interest  to  be  gathered  from  the  many  letters*  of 
Col.  II.,  written  from  the  fort  here,  and  addressed  to  generals  Wayne 
and  Wilkinson. 

On  the  5th  December,  '94,  he  wrote  to  Gen.  Wayne: 

"  It.  is  with  a  great  degree  of  mortification  that  I  am  obliged  to  inform  your  ex- 
cellency of  the  great  propensity  many  of  the  soldiers  have  to  larccuy.  I  have 
flogged  them  till  I  am  tired.  The  economic  allowance  of  one  hundred  lashes,  al- 
lowed by  government,  does  not  appear  a  sufficient  inducement  for  a  rascal  to  act 
the  part  of  an  honest  man.  I  have  now  a  number  in  confinement  and  in  irons  for 
having  stolen  four  quarters  of  beef  on  the  night  of  the  3rd  instant.  I  oould  wish 
them  to  be  tried  by  a  general  court-martial,  in  order  to  make  an  csxample  of  some 
of  them.  I  shall  keep  them  counued  until  the  pleasure  of  your  excellency  is  known." 

"Fort  Wayne,  December  29,  1794. 

"Sin — Yesterday  a  mirabsr  of  chiefs  of  the  Chippeways,  Ottawas,  Sacks,  and 
Pottawattamies  arrived  here  with  the  two  Lassells  f  It  appears  that  the  Shawan- 
ees,  Delawares,  and  Miamies  remain  still  under  the  influence  of  McKee  ;  but  Las- 
sell  thinks  they  will  be  compelled  to  come  into  the  measures  of  the  other  Indians. 
After  the  chiefs  have  rested  a  day  or  two,  I  will  send  them  to  he.id-quarters  " 

"Fort  Wayne,  December  29,  1794. 

SIR — Since  rny  last  letter  to  your  excellency  of  the  present  date,  two  war-chiefs 
have  arrived  from  the  Miami  nation,  and  inform  me  that  their  nation  will  be  here 
in  a  few  days,  from  whence  they  will  proceed  to  Greenville.  They  also  bring  in- 
telligence of  the  remaining  tribes  of  savages  acceding  to  the  prevalent  wish  for  peace, 
and  collecting  for  the  purpose  the  chiefs  of  their  nations,  who,  it  is  expected,  will 
make  their  appearance  at  this  post  about  the  same  time  the  Miamies  may  come  for- 
ward," 

*Fublished  from  the  manuscript  of  Col  Hamtramak  in  the  "American  Pioneer;  184:). 

fJacques  and  Aatoine  Lasselle.  iJacques  Lasselle 


156  HISTORY  OF  Four  WAYKE. 

"  Decftnller  13,  1705 

"  The  issues  (o  the  Indians  would  1)C  very  inconsiderable  tins  winter,  if  it  was 
not  forabout  ninety  old  women  and  children  with  some  very  old  men,  who  live  near 
us  and  have  no  other  mode  of  subsisting  but  by  garrison.  I  have  repeatedly  tried 
to  get  clear  of  them,  but  without  success. 

''  January  13,  17%. 

"About ninety  old  women  and  children  have  been  victualled  by  the  garrison.  I 
have,  yesterday,  given  them  tiro  days'  provision,  and  told  them  it  was  the  la«t 
they  should  have  until  spring.  I  was  obliged  to  do  so  because,  from  calculation,  I 
have  no  more  flour  than  will  last  me  until  spring.  But,  sir,  if  other  supplies  could 
bo  got  by  land,  I  consider  it  politic  to  feed  these  poor  creatures,  who  will  suffer  very 
much  for  want  of  subsistence." 

[To  General    Wilkinton}  "  March  28,  1706. 

"lam  out  of  wampum.  I  will  be  very  much  obliged  to  you  to  send  me  some,  for 
speaking  to  an  Indian  without  it  is  like  consulting  a  lawyer  without  a  fee." 

[To  General   Wilkinson  ]  •  April  5,   1796. 

"  Little  Turtle  arrived  yesterday,  to  whom  I  delivered  your  message.  H:s  answer 
was,  to  present  his  compliments  to  you,  that  he  was  very  glad  of  the  invitation,  as 
he  wished  very  mucli  to  seegancral  Wilkinson,  but  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  go 
to  Greenville  at  present,  as  he  had  ordered  all  his  younc  men  to  repair  to  a  rendez- 
vous, in  order,  when  assembled,  to  chose  a  place  for  their  permanent  residence:  that, 
as  soon  as  that  object  shall  be  accomplished,  he  would  go  to  see  you,  which,  he  said, 
would  be  by  the  time  he  hears  form  you  again." 

[7'o  General  WV/Hnson.]  "April  18,  1796. 

"The  bearer  is  ciptain  Blue  Jacket,  who.  at.  your  request,  is  now  going  to  Green- 
ville. Bluo  Jacket  is  used  to  good  company  an l  is  nlways  treated  with  more  atten- 
tion than  other  Indians.  He  appears  to  be  very  well  disposed,  and  I  believe  him 
sincere." 

True  to  their  promise,  in  the  early  part  of  June,  1795,  deputa- 
tions from  the  different  tribes  of  the  northwest  began  to  arrive  ;it 
Greenville  with  a  view  to  the  consummation  of  the  treaty  already 
referred  to.  This  treaty,  which  was  one  of  much  interest  through- 
out, lasted  from  the  16th  of  June,  to  the  10th  of  August,  (17'J5) 
many  of  the  principal  chiefs  making  strong  speeches,  and  each  na- 
tion openly  and  separately  assenting  to  the  articles  and  stipulations 
of  the  treaty.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  speech  to  deputies  on  the 
10th  of  August,  at  the  termination  of  the  treaty,  General  Wayne 
addressed  the  assemblage  as  follows :  *'  I  now  fervently  pray  to  the 
Great  Spirit,  that  the  peace  now  established  may  be  permanent, 
and  that  it  may  hold  us  together  in  the  bonds  of  friendship,  until 
time  shall  be  no  more.  I  also  pray  that  the  Great  Spirit  above  may 
enlighten  your  minds,  and  open  your  eyes  to  your  true  happiness, 
that  your  children  may  learn  to  cultivate  the  earth,  and  enjoy  the 
fruits  of  peace  and  industry.  As  it  is  probable,  my  children,  that 
we  shall  not  soon  meet  again  in  public  council,  I  take  this  opportu- 
nity of  bidding  you  all  an  affectionate  farewell,  and  wishing  you  a 
safe  and  happy  return  to  your  respective  homes  and  families." 

A  general  feeling  of  rejoicing  soon  pervaded  the  country  at  the 
happy  termination  of  this  treaty;*  and  it  was  as  pleasing  and  accep- 

*  The  bonndry  linen  established  at  this  treaty,  between  the  northwestern  Indians 
and  the  U.  S.,  secured  to  the  Indians  all  the  territory  within  the  present  limits  of  the 
State  of  Indiana,  excepting,  First : — One  tract  of  land,  six  miles  square,  at  the  con- 
fluence of  the  St.  Mary  and  St.  Joecph  rivers.  Secondly: — One  tract  of  Ian J,  two 
miles  square,  on  the  Wabash  river,  at.  the  end  of  the  portage,  from  the  head  of  the  river 
Maumee,  and  about  eight  miles  westward  from  Fort  Wayne.  Thirdly  : — One  tract  of 
laud,  six  miles  square,  at  Ouiateuon,  or  the  old  Wea  town  on  the  river  Wabash. 


BEGINNING  OF  A  NEW  ERA  IN  THE  GREAT  WEST.          157 

table  to  the  Government,  as  it  was  agreeable  to  the  Indians.  With 
these  pacific  relations  came  the  cry  of  "  WESTWARD,  HO  ! "  and  soon 
a  tide  of  emigration  began  to  set  in  from  the  eastern  States, 
many  selecting  sites  along  the  Ohio,  the  Sciota,  and  Muskingum 
rivers ;  and  others  again  selected  and  began  settlements  along  the 
fertile  regions  lying  between  the  two  Miami  rivers,  and  at  other 
points  westward.  And  thus  had  begun  a  new  life  and  a  new  free- 
dom in  the  wide  domain  of  the  northwest. 

Fourthly: — The  tract  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres,  near  the  falls  of  the 
Ohio  ;  which  tract  was  called  the  "  Illinois  Grant,"  or  "  Clark's  Grant."  Fifthly  : — 
The  town  of  Yincennes,  on  the  river  Wabash,  and  the  adjacent  lands  to  which  th-e 
Indian  title  had  been  extinguished  ;  and  all  similar  lands,  at  other  places,  in  possession 
of  t'ic  French  people,  or  other  white  settlers  among  them.  And,  sixthly  : — The  strip  of 
land  lying  east  of  aline  running  directly  from  the  site  of  Fort  Recovery,  so  as  to  inter- 
sect the  River  Ohio  a*  a  point  opposite  to  the  month  of  the  Kentucky  river. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

'  All  along  the  winding  river 
And  adown  the  uhudy  glen, 

On  the  hill  and  in  the  valley," 
The  voice  of  war  resounds  agiiin. 


Emigration  westward— The  Shawanoes  Prophet — Enactments  of  laws — Trendy  bettteetJ 
the  U  S.  and  Spain — Efforts  to  dissolve  the  Union — Col.  Hamtramck  leaves  Fort 
Wayne — British  evacuate  Fort  Miami — Death  of  General  Wayne — General  Wilk-  / 
inson  assumes  command  of  the  western  forees-^Movements  of  Baron  Carondelet 
— Failure  of  the  Spmiish  and  French  scheme— 'Treaty  of  peace  with  France — ces- 
sion of  Louisiana  to  France — Cession  of  same  to  the  TJ.  S. — Legislative  session  at.  Cin- 
cinnati— Wm.  Henry  Harrison  chosen  representative  in  Congress — Division  of  ter- 
ritory— Harrison  appointed  Governor — Principal  events  from  1800  to  1810 — Efforts 
of  Governor  Harrison  to  induce  the  Indians  to  engage  in  agricultural  pursuits — 
Extinguishment  of  Indian  claims — Treaty  at  Fort  Wayne  in  1H03 — 'Peaceable  re-  ' 
lations  between  the  Indians  and  the  U.  S. — Beginning  of  new  troubles — Short 
account  ot  the  Shawanoes — Indians  put  to  death  by  order  of  the  Prophet — Speech 
of  Gov.  Harrison — Capt.  Wm.  Wells,  Indian  agent  here — Sends  a  message  to  Te- 
cumseh  by  Anthony  iShane — Shane's  reception — Tecumseh'a  reply — Well*  refuses 
to  comply  with  Tecumseh 's  request — Shane  again  sent  to  Tecumseh — Second  re- 
ply of  Tecumseh — Indians  continue  to  assemble  at  Greenfille — Many  about  Fort 
Wayne — Great  alarm  of  the  settlers — Governor  of  Ohio  sends  a  deputation  to 
Greenville — Address  of  the  commissioners — Speech  of  Blue  Jacket^-Tecumsehand 
others  return  with  the  commissioners — Further  alarm — A  white  man  killed — Mi- 
litia called  out —  Investigation  of  the  murder — Settlers  still  uneasy — Speech  of 
Gov.  Harrison — Protestations  of  the  Prophet— ^He  removes  to  Tippecanoe — War- 
like sports  begun — Settlers  again  alarmed — The  Prophet  visits  Gov.  Harrison — Hie 
Speech — Harrison  tests  him—Secret  movements  of  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet— - 
Many  of  their  followers  leave  them — Militia  organized — Alarm  subsides — Treaty 
ofFo'rt  Wayne,  1809^-Further  movements  of  Tscumseh  and  the  Prophet — Gov. 
Harrison  prepares  for  the  safety  of  the  frontier1. 


HE  TIDE  of  emigration  westward,  that  had  begun  soon  after 
I  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  steadily  continued  for  a  number  of 
.years,  and  the  peace  of  the  country  was  not  materially  inter- 
rupted till  some  time  during-  the  year  1810,  when  the  famous 
Shawanoe  Prophet,  Ells-kwata-wa,  through  a  singular  and 
somewhat  powerful  influence,  began  to  exert  a  wide  control  over 
many  tribes  of  the  northwest,  thus  creating  much  alarm  among  the 
western  settlements,  which,  in  turn,  much  impeded  the  influx  of 
emigrants  to  the  Indiana  Territory. 

The  most  important   events  that  transpired  from  1795  to  1810, 


TREATY  BETWEEN  THE  U.  S.  AND  SPAIN.  1  59 

were  the  meeting  of  Governor  St.Clair,\vith  John  Cleves  Symmes  and 
George  Turner,  the  latter  as  judges  of  the  northwestern  territory, 
Cincinnati,  May  29th,  1795,  wherein  they  adopted  and  made  thirty- 
eight  laws  for  the  better  regulation  and  government  of  the  territory. 

On  the  27th  of  October  of  this  year  ('95)  a  treaty  of  "  friendship, 
limits,  and  navigation,  between  the  United  States  of  America  and 
the  King  of  Spain,"  was  concluded,  at  the  eourt  of  Spain,  between 
Thos.  Pinckney,  envoy  extraordianary  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
Duke  of  Alcudia,  which  extended  from  the  southern  boundry  of  the 
U.  S.  to  "  the  northernmost  post  of  tke  thirty-first  degree  of  latitude 
north  of  the  equator,"  which  was  to  extend  "  due  east  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  river  Apalachicola  or  Catahoucha,  thence  along  the 
middle  thereof,  to  its  junction  with  the  Flint;  thence  straight,  to  the 
head  of  St.  Mary's  river,  and  thence  down  the  middle  thereof,  to  the 
Atlantic  Ocean;"  and  was  ratified  on  the  3d  of  March,  1796. 

In  July  of  179G,  the  French  Executive  Directory,  because  of  this 
treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and  navigation  between  the  United 
States  and  Spain,  charged  the  American  government  with  "  a  breach 
of  friendship  and  abandonment  of  neutrality,  and  a  violation  of  tacit 
engagements;"  and  during  1796  and  1797,  as  in  keeping  with  a 
similar  spirit  exhibited  in  1795,  before  the  Spanish  garrisons  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Mississipppi  were  surrendered  to  the  United 
States,  strong  efforts  were  made,  on  the  part  of  French  and  Spanish 
agents,  to  persuade  the  inhabitants  of  the  western  country  to 
withdraw  their  connection  from  the  American  Union,  and,  with 
those  governments,  to  form  a  separate  and  independent  government, 
extending  westward  from  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  But  the  in- 
ducements were  of  no  avail,  and  the  scheme  failed. 

Before  the  end.  of  July,  (1796)  the  English  had  withdrawn 
from  all  "the  posts  within  the  boundry  of  the  United  States  north- 
west of  the  Ohio  ;  "  and  about  the  17th  of  May  of  this  year,  Colonel 
Hamtramck  had  left  Fort  Wayne,  passing  down  the  Maumee  to 
where  the  famous  engagement  of  Wayne  had  but  a 


_ 

few  monthsbefore  occured,  and  on  the  llth  of  July  the  British 
fort,  JNIiami,  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  was  evacuated,  Capt.  Moses 
Porter  soon  taking  command.  On  the  13th  of  July,  Colonel  Ham- 
tramck took  possession  of  the  Post  sit  Detroit. 

In  December  of  this  year,  '96,  General  Wayne  died,  and  General 
James  Wilkinson  was  put  in  command  of  the  western  army  of  the 
United  States,  and  a  small  detachment  still  continued  at  Fort 
Wayne. 

In  the  month  of  June  1797,  some  feeling  still  existing  on  the  part 
of  Spain  as  well  as  France,  the  two  governments  being  somewhat 
allied  in  their  motives  against  the  United  States,  the  governor  of 
Louisiana  (Baron  de  Carondelet)  sent  a  request  to  General  Wilkin- 
son to  delay  the  movement  of  the  United  States  troops  that  were-  to 
occupy  the  posts  on  the  Mississippi  river  until  such  time  as  the  ad- 
justments of  certain  questions  then  pending  between  tlu>  American 


160  HlSTOEY    OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

and  Spanish  governments  could  be  adjusted.  But  the  true  object 
ot  Carondelet,  through  his  agent  (Thomas  Power,)  seems  to  have 
been  only  to  ascertain  the  true  feeling  of  the  western  people  regard- 
ing a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  Power  having  passed  through  the 
western  territory  as  far  as  Detroit,  in  the  month  of  August,  '97, 
he  met  General  Wilkinson,  and  explained  the  object  of  his  mission, 
which  the  general  readily  concluded  to  be '' a  chimerical  project, 
which  it  was  impossible  to  execute,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  west- 
ern states,  having  obtained  by  treaty  all  they  desired,  would  not 
wish  to  form  any  other  political  or  commercial  alliance."  Because 
of  these  intrigues  on  the  part  of  Spain,  and  the  conduct  of  France, 
in  December,  1796,*  in  refusing  to  receive  Minister  Monroe,  at 
Paris,  on  the  ground  of  complaints  already  mentioned,  relative  to 
the  treaty  with  Spain,  and  because  of  the  depredation  of  French 
vessels  against  American  commerce,  the  United  States  government, 
during  1798,  impelled  the  latter  to  adopt  and  enforce  strenuous 
measures  of  retaliation ;  the  first  of  which  was  that  of  "  an  act  au- 
thorizing the  President  of  the  U.  S.  to  raise  a  provisional  army." 
The  second,  "  to  suspend  the  commercial  intercourse  between  the 
U.  S.  and  France  and  the  dependencies  thereof."  The  third,  "  to 
authorize  the  defense  of  the  merchant  vessels  of  the  U.  S.  against 
French  depredations ; "  and  fourth,  "  an  act  concerning  aliea  ene- 
mies." 

The  Spaniads  had  hoped  for  aid,  by  way  of  Canada,  from  the 
English,  in  1798.  But  they  were  doomed  to  disappointment,  and 
having  reluctantly  evacuated  the  posts  on  the  Mississippi  during  the 
summer  of  1798,  in  the  fall  of  that  year  Gen.  Wilkiuson  moved 
down  that  river  and  took  up  his  headquarters  at  Loftus'  Heights, 
where  he  soon  erected  Fort  Adams.  In  September  of  this  year, 
France  having  exhibited  a  desire  for  peaceable  relations  with  the 
United  States,  subsequent  negotiations  were  had  at  Paris,  and  on 
the  30th  of  September,  1800,  a  "treaty  of  peace  and  commerce" 
was  consummated  between  the  United  States  and  France. 

In  October  of  this  year,  (1800),  by  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  at 
St.  Ildefonso,  Spain  retroceded  to  France  the  province  of  Louisiana, 
embracing  the  original  lines  of  territory  as  when  before  held  by 
France  ;  and  under  Jefferson's  administration,  three  years  later, 
(30th  of  April,  1803,)  the  French  government  "  sold  and  ceded 
Louisiana,  in  its  greatest  extent,  to  the  United  States,  for  a  sum 
about  equal  to  fifteen  millions  of  dollars." 

On  the  23d  of  April,  1798,  a  legislative  session  was  convened  at 
Cincinnati,  which  closed  on  the  7th  of  May,  same  year,  Winthrop 
Sargent,  acting  governor,  and  John  Cleves  Symmes,  Joseph  Gil- 
man,  and  Return  Jonathan  Meigs,  Jr.,  territorial  judges.  On  the 
29th  of  October  of  this  year,  Gov.  St.  Clair  issued  a  proclamation, 

*  It  was  in  September  of  this  year  that  Washington,  then  soon  to  vacate  the  Presi- 
dential chair  for  John  Adams,  who,  that  year,  was  elected  President,  and  Thomas 
Jefferson  vico  President  of  the  United  States,  issued  his  tV-rvont  and  ever  memorable 
FARF.WF.tL 


DIVISION  OF  THE  NORTHWESTERN  TERRITORY.  161 

"  directing  the  qualified  voters  of  the  Northwestern  Territory  to 
hold  elections  in  their  respective  counties  on  the  third  Monday  of 
December,"  with  a  view  to  electing  representatives  to  a  general  as- 
sembly, to  convene  at  Cincinnati  on  the  22d  of  January,  1799.  The 
representatives  having  met  at  the  appointed  place,  in  compliance 
•with  the  ordinance  of  1787,  for  the  establishment  of  legislative 
councils,  ten  persons  were  chosen  as  nominees,  and  their  names 
forwarded  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who,  on  the  second 
of  March,  1799,  selected  therefrom,  the  names  of  Jacob  Burnett, 
James  Findlay,  Henry  Vanderburgh,  Robert  Oliver,  and  David 
Vance,  as  suitable  persons  to  form  the  legislative  council  of  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  United  States,  lying  northwest  of  the  Ohio  river,  which 
names  wrere,  on  the  following  day,  confirmed  by  the  U.  S.  Senate. 
This  body  met  at  Cincinnati  on  the  16th  day  of  September,  and 
were  fully  organized  on  the  25th  of  that  month,  1799,  of  which 
Henry  Vanderburgh  was  elected  President,  and  William  C.  Schenk, 
Secretary.  The  following  counties  were  represented :  Hamilton, 
Ross,  Wayne,  Adams,  Knox,  Jefferson,  and  Washington ;  sending 
nineteen  members.  , 

On  the  third  of  October,  of  this  year,  the  names  of  two  candi- 
dates (Wm.  H.  Harrison  and  Arthur  St.  Glair,  Jr.,)  to  represent  the 
Northwestern  Territory  in  Congress,  being  presented  to  that  body, 
Harrison  was  chosen — the  one  receiving  eleven  votes,  and  the  other 
ten.* 

In  1800,  a  division  of  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  river 
having  occurred,  on  the  13th  of  May  of  that  year,  Wm.  Henry 
Harrison'was  appointed  governor  of  the  Indiana  Territory.  The  seat, 
of  government  for  the  Territory  was  established  at  Vincennes,  where, 
with  the  judge  of  the  same,  the  governor  met  on  Monday,  12th  of 
January,  1801,  with  a  view  of  adopting  and  issuing  "  such  laws  as 
the  exegencies  of  the  times  "  might  call  for,  and  likewise  for  the 
"  performance  of  other  acts  conformable  to  the  ordinances  and  laws 
of  Congress  (1787)  for  the  government  of  the  Teiritory." 

From  the  period  of  the  formation  of  the  new  territory  to  1810, 
the  principal  subjects  of  attention  and  interest  to  the  people  therein, 
"wore  land  speculations,  the  adjustment  of  land  titles,  the  question 
of  negro  slavery,  the  purchase  of  Indian  lands  by  treaties,  the  or- 
ganization of  territorial  legislatures,  the  extension  of  the  right  of 
suifrage,  the  division  of  the  Indiana  Territory,  the  movements  of 
Aaron  Burr,  and  the  hostile  views  and  proceedings  of  the  Shaw- 
anoe  chief,  Tecumseh,  and  his  brother,  the  Prophet."f 

With  a  view  to  peace  and  good-will  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Indians  of  the  northwest,  through  certain  laws  and  regula- 
tions of  the  government,  Gov.  Harrison,  at  an  early  period  of  his 
administration,  made  efforts  to  induce  the  different  tribes  to  engage 
in  agricultural  and  other  pursuits  of  a  civilized  nature,  to  the  end 
that  they  might  be  more  agreeably  situated  and  live  more  in  har- 

*  Dillon's  His.  Ind.,  page  392.  flbid,  page  409  (11) 


162  HlSTOET   OF   FOBT   "WAYNE. 

mony  with  the  advancing  civilization  of  the  time.  Being  also  in- 
vested with  powers  authorizing  him  to  negotiate  treaties  between 
the  U.  S.  government  and  the  different  tribes  of  the  Indiana  Terri- 
tory, and  also  to  extinguish,  by  such  treaties,  the  Indian  title  to 
lands  situate  within  the  said  territor}^.  Between  the  fore  part  of  1802 
and  1805,  the  governor  was  most  actively  employed  in  the  discharge 
of  these  duties. 

On  the  17th  day  of  September,  1802,  at  a  conference  held  at 
Vincennes,  certain  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Pottawattamie,  Eel 
River,  Piankeshaw,  Wea,  Kaskaskia,  and  Kickapoo  tribes  ap- 
pointed the  Miami  chiefs,  Little  Turtle  and  Richard ville,  and  also 
the  Pottawattamie  chiefs,  Wine-mac  and  To-pin-e-pik  to  adjust,  by 
treaty,  the  extinguishment  of  certain  Indian  claims  to  lands  on  the 
Wabash,  near  Vincennes.  And  on  the  7th  of  June,  the  year  fol- 
lowing, (1803,)  Gov.  Harrison  held  a  treaty  at  Fort  Wayne,  with 
certain  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Delaware,  Shawanoe,  Potta- 
wattamie, Eel  River,  Kickapoo,  Piankeshaw,  and  Kaskaskia  tribes, 
wherein  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  about  one  million  six  hun- 
dred thousand  acres  of  land.* 

For  a  period  of  sixteen  years,  subsequent  to  the  treaty  of  Green- 
ville, (1795  to  1811)  agreeable  relations  were  maintained,  by  the  U. 
S.,  between  the  Miamies  and  some  other  tribes  represented  at  that 
famous  treaty.  During  this  time  the  Indians  seemed  mainly  to 
have  betaken  themselves  to  the  forest  and  priaries  in  pursuit  of 
game;  and  the  result  was  that  a  considerable  traffic  was  steadily 
"  carried  on  with  the  Indians,  by  fur-traders  of  Fort  Wayne,  and 
Vincennes,  and  at  different  small  trading  posts  which  were  estab- 
lished on  the  borders  of  the  Wabash  river  and  its  tributaries.  The 
furs  and  peltries  which  were  obtained  from  the  Indians,  were  gen- 
erally transported  to  Detroit.  The  skins  were  dried,  compressed, 
and  secured  in  packs.  Each  pack  weighed  about  one  hundred 
pounds.  A  pirogue,  or  boat,  that  was  sufficiently  large  to  carry 
forty  packs,  required  the  labor  of  four  men  to  manage  it  on  its  voy- 
age. In  favorable  stages  of  the  Wabash  river,  such  a  vessel,  under 
the  management  of  skillful  boatmen,  was  propelled  fifteen  or  twenty 
miles  a  day,  against  the  current.  After  ascending  the  river  Wa- 
bash and  the  Little  River  to  the  portage  near  Fort  Wayne,  the  tra- 
ders carried  their  packs  over  the  portage,  to  the  head,  of  the  river 
Maumee,  where  they  were  again  placed  in  pirogues,  or  in  keel- 
boats,  to  be  transportated  to  Detroit.  At  this  place  the  furs  and 
skins  were  exchanged  for  blankets,  guns,  knives,  powder,  bullets,t 
intoxicating  liquors,  etc.,  with  which  the  traders  returned  to  their 
several  posts.  According  to  the  records  of  the  customhouse  at  Que- 
bec, the  value  of  the  furs  and  peltries  exported  from  Canada,  in  the 
year  1786,  was  estimated  at  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seventy-seven  ponnds  sterling." 

*  Dillon'.  His.  Ind, 

fThe  bullets,  -which  -were  made  to  fifcthe  guns  in  use  among  the  Indians,  were  valued 
at  four  dollars  per  hundred.  Powder,  at  one  dollar  per  pint. 


THE  SHAWANOES.  163 

But  the  volcanic  fire  of  revolution  had  already  begun  its  up- 
heavel.  The  past  had  witnessed  many  periodical  struggles  in  the 
new  world,  and  the  hour  for  another  was  near  at  hand.  The  Indians 
of  the  northwest,  for  the  most  part,  began  to  grow  restive.  The  game 
of  the  forest  had  now  long  b«en  hunted  and  killed  for  their  hides, 
fur,  and  meat,  while  many  of  the  traders  had  grown  wealthy  upon 
the  profits  yielded  therefrom.  The  life  of  the  hunter  seemed  too 
monotinous  for  the  Indian,  and  he  sought,  as  at  other  periods,  and, 
in  many  relations,  for  good  reasons,  as  he  had  thought,  to  change  it 
for  one  of  war ;  and  as  the  larger  fish  of  the  ocean  are  said  to  de- 
vour the  lesser  ones,  so  it  would  seem  that,  by  continued  irritation, 
brought  on  through  the  eiforts  of  both  the  white  and  red  man,  Civil- 
ization, with  its  strange  and  active  impulse,  was  at  length  destined 
to  supplant  the  early  and  endearing  homes  and  soil  of  the  red 
children  of  the  northwest  with  new  and  more  advanced  human  and 
physical  relations. 

As  the  reader  has  already  seen,  the  Shawanoes  played  a  conspicu- 
ous part  at  various  times  during  the  early  efforts  of  the  English 
and  Americans  to  gain  possession  of  the  western  frontier.  Col. 
Bouquet's  expedition  was  directed  mainly  against  them,  at  which 
time  they  dwelt  principally  about  the  Sciota  river,  some  miles  to 
the  southeast  of  the  Miami  villages. 

Not  unlike  most  Indian  tribes,  the  origin  of  the  Shawanoes  is  en- 
veloped in  much  obscurity.  Many  tribes,  it  is  true,  can  be  traced 
back  for  many  centuries ;  but  beyond  that,  all  is  conjecture  or  so 
wrapped  in  legendary  accounts,  that  it  is  most  difficult  indeed  to 
trace  them  further. 

The  Lenni-Lenape,  or  Delawares,  have  long  received  the  first 
claim  to  attention  as  an  active  and  war-like  branch  of  the  Algonquin 
family ;  but  the  Shawanoes  are  evidently,  in  so  far,  at  least,  as  their 
chiefs  and  the  spirit  of  war  is  concerned,  entitled  to  a  first  considera- 
tion, while  the  Miamies,  evidently,  were  early  the  superiors,  in 
many  essential  respects,  of  most  of  the  Algonquin  tribes  of  the 
northwest. 

The  French  knew  the  Shawanoes  as  the  Chaouanous,  and  were 
often  called  the  Massawomees.  The  famous  Iroquois  called  them 
the  Satanas  ;  and  the  name  was  often  spelt  Shawanees,  Shawaneus, 
Sawanos,  Shawanos,  and  Shawanoes.  The  latter  style  of  spelling 
the  name  is  the  one  adopted  in  these  pages. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  "  Notes  on  Virginia,"  speaks  of  a  savage 
warfare  between  several  tribes,  one  of  which  was  the  Shawanoe, 
at  the  period  of  Capt.  John  Smiths's  advent  in  America.  In  1632, 
by  another  historian,  the  Shawanoes  were  dwelling  upon  one  of  the 
banks  of  the  Delaware ;  and  it  is  variously  conceded  that  this  tribe 
participated  in  the  treaty  with  Win.  Penn,  in  1682.  Accounts  agree 
that  "  they  were  a  marauding,  adventurous  tribe,"  while  "  their 
numerous  wanderings  and  appearances  in  different  parts  of  the 
continent,  almost  place  research  at  defiance."  To  become  em- 


104  HlSTOET   OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

broiled  with  neighboring  tribes,  wherever  they  dwelt,  seerns  to  have 
been  their  fate  ;  and  to  save  themselves  from  utter  destruction  as  a 
tribe,  it  is  told  that  they  had  more  than  once  been  obliged  to  fly 
for  other  and  more  secure  parts  of  the  country. 

Parkman  is  of  opinion  that  the  Five  Nations  (Iroquois)  overcame 
them  about  the  year  1672,  and  that  a  large  portion  of  them  sought 
safety  in  the  Carolinas  and  Florida ;  where  they  soon  again  be- 
came involved  in  trouble,  and  the  Mobilians  sought  to  exterminate  • 
them.  .Returning  northward,  with  others,  they  settled  in  what  is 
now  the  Ohio  valley.  Gallatin,  who  is  well  versed  in  the  aborigi- 
nal tongues,  is  of  opinion  that  this  tribe  was  of  the  Lenni-Lenape 
branch  of  the  Algonquin  family,  and  thinks  that  their  dispersion 
took  place  about  1732.  The  Suwanee  river,  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  United  States,  takes  its  name  from  this  tribe,  whither  they 
had  wandered  before  settling  in  the  northwest.  Says  Heckwelder, 
referring  to  this  tribe  before  their  settlement  upon  the  Ohio,  they 
"  sent  messengers  to  their  elder  brother,  the  Mohicans,  requesting 
them  to  intercede  for  them  with  their  grandfather,  the  Lenni-Lenape, 
to  take  them  under  his  protection.  This  the  Mohicans  willingly 
did,  and  even  sent  a  body  of  their  own  people  to  conduct  their 
younger  brother  into  the  country  of  the  Delawares.  The  Shawan- 
oes,  finding  themselves  safe  under  the  protection  of  their  grand- 
father, did  not  choose  to  proceed  to  the  eastward,  but  many  of 
them  remained  on  the  Ohio,  some  of  whom  settled  as  far  up  that 
river  as  the  Long  Island,  above  which  the' French  afterward  built 
Fort  Duquesne,  on  the  spot  where  Pittsburgh  now  stands.  Those 
who  proceeded  further,  were  accompanied  by  their  chief,  Gacli- 
gawatschiqua,  and  settled  principally  at  and  about  the  forks  of  the 
Delaware,  between  that  and  the  confluence  of  the  Delaware  and 
Schuylkill  rivers ;  and  some,  even  on  the  spot  where  Philadelphia 
now  stands  ;  others  were  conducted  by.  the  Mohicans  into  their  own 
country,  where  they  intermarried  with  them  and  became  one  peo- 
ple. When  those  who  settled  near  the  Delaware  had  multiplied, 
they  returned  to  Wyoming,  on  the  Susquehanna,  where  they  resided 
for  a  great  number  of  years." 

In  1754,  during  the  French  and  English  war,  the  Shawanoes  took 
part  with  the  French.  The  Wyoming  branch,  through  the  efforts 
of  the  missionary  Zingendorf,  through  this  period,  remained  quietj 
taking  no  part  in  the  struggle.  A  few  years  later,  however,^  trivial 
dispute  having  arisen  between  this  tribe  and  the  Delawares  as  to 
the 'possession  of  a  grasshopper,  a  bloody  conflict  ensued  between 
them,  wherein  about  one-half  of  the  Shawanoe  warriors  were  de- 
stroyed, while  the  remainder  removed  to  the  Ohio,  where  they 
dwelt  for  several  years,  during  all  the  period  of  those  desolating 
struggles  of  the  early  frontier  settlements,  referred  to  in  former 
chapters,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  past  and  the  first  of  the  pres- 
ent century,  [n  what  is  now  the  State  of  Ohio,  they  had  many  con- 
siderable towns,  Tecumseh  was  born  at  one  of  these,  known  as 


A  SHORT  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  SHAWAUOES.  165 

Piqua,  which  stands  upon  Mad  River,  a  few  miles  below  Spring- 
field. This  village  was  destroyed  by  the  Kentuckians,  under  Clark, 
in  1780. 

After  their  defeat  by  Col.  Bouquet,  in  1764,  and  the  treaty  of  Sir 
William  Johnson,  they  soon  became  embroiled  in  a  difficulty  with 
the  Cherokees,  maintaining  the  struggle  until  1768,  when  they 
were  forced  to  sue  for  peace.  Remaining  comparatively  quiet  for 
several  years,  but  little  is  known  of  them,  of  a  war-like  nature,  un- 
til 1774,  soon  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  "  Dunmore  War."  But 
for  the  results  that  brought  them  into  this  struggle,  it  is  said  the 
Shawanoes  were  in  no  wise  responsible.  A  report  having  gained 
credence  among  the  whites  that  the  Indians  had  stolen  several  of 
their  horses,  a  couple  of  Shawanoes  were  taken  and  put  to  death  by 
them,  without  knowing  whether  they  were  the  guilty  ones  or 
not ;  and  on  the  same  day,  the  whites  tired  upon  and  killed  several 
of  the  Shawanoes,  the  latter  returning  the  fire  and  severely  wound- 
ing one  of  the  whites.  Cresap  also  killed  the  famous  Logan  family 
about  this  period.  An  old  Delaware  sachem,  known  as  "  Bald 
Eagle,"  for  many  years  the  friend  of  the  whites,  was  murdered,  and 
the  famous  chief  of  the  Shawanoes,  one  much  beloved  by  that  tribe, 
known  as  "  Silver  Heels,"  was  fatally  wounded,  while  returning  in 
a  canoe  from  Albany,  where  he  had  accompanied  some  white  tra- 
ders seeking  safety.  When  found  by  his  friends,  "  Bald  Eagle " 
was  floating  in  his  canoe,  in  an  upright  position,  and  scalped.  The 
Indians  were  now  exasperated  to  a  high  degree ;  Logan,  at  the  mer- 
ciless death  of  his  wife  and  children, — and  a  sanguinary  war  was 
the  result.  It  was  in  the  month  of  October  of  the  year  in  question 
that  occured  the  famous  battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  in  which  Colonel 
Lewis  was  killed,  with  some  fifty  odd  other  white  men,  with  about 
a  hundred  wounded.  The  Indians  were  defeated,  but  the  defeat  was 
dearly  bought.  ,  , 

After  this,  the  Shawanoes  allied  themselves  to  the  English,  and 
became  the  implacable  foe  of  the  colonists  in  the  struggle  for  In- 
dependence ;  and  even  after  peace  was  declared,  in  1783,  they  re- 
fused to  be  friendly,  and  continued  to  wage  war  upon  the  whites, 
obstinately  opposing  the  advancing  army  to  the  west.  Several 
small  expeditions  were  sent  against  them  after  the  revolution,  which 
they  strongly  opposed — Clark's,  in  1780  and  1782;  Logan's  in  1786  ; 
Edward's  in  1787 ;  Todd's  in  1788 ;  and  the  reader  is  already  famil- 
iar with  their  efforts,  combined  with  other  tribes,  against  the  expe- 
ditions ofllarmar,  St.  Clair,  and  Wayne. 

In  the  spring  of  180y,  Captain  Thomas  Herrod,  living  a  short 
distance  from  Chilicothe,  was  murdered  and  scalped  near  his  own 
house.  A  party  ot  hunters  coming  upon  the  body,  recognized  it, 
and,  from  the  appearance,  were  convinced  that  it  had  been  done 
by  Indians.  The  treaty  of  Greenville  up  to  this  time  had  suffered 
no  violation,  and  the  settlers  now  believed  hostilities  were  about  to 
commence.  Who  committed  this  deed  has  never  been  ascertained, 


1 66  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNK. 

but  there  was  strong  suspicions  among  the  immediate  neighbors 
against  a  white  man  who  had  been  a  rival  candidate  with  Herrod 
for  a  captaincy  in  the  Ohio  militia.  There  being  no  tangible  evi- 
dence against  the  man,  he  was  allowed  to  remain  unmolested,  while 
those  who  suspected  the  Indians  most  cowardly  retaliated  upon 
them.  The  account  of  the  death,  as  if  borne  on  the  wings  of  the 
wind,  -spread  with  great  rapidity  all  over  the  Sciota  valley,  and  the 
excitement  and  alarm  produced  among  the  citizens  was  most  in- 
tense. Whole  families,  from  five  to  fifteen  miles  apart,  flocked  to- 
gether for  purposes  of  self-defense.  In  some  places  block-houses 
were  run  up,  and  preparations  for  war  made  in  every  direction. 
The  citizens  of  Chilicothe,  though  in  the  center  of  population,  col- 
lected together  for  the  purpose  of  fortifying  the  town.  The  inhabi- 
tants living  on  the  north  fork  of  Paint  Creek  were  all  collected  at 
Old  Town,  now  Frankfort,  and  among  others  was  David  Wolf,  an 
old  hunter,  a  man  of  wealth  and  some  influence.  He  had  settled 
on  the  north  fork,  twenty  miles  above  Old  Town.  After  remaining 
in  the  town  several  days,  he  employed  two  men,  Williams  and  Fer- 
guson, to  go  with  him  to  his  farm,  with  the  view  of  examining  into 
the  condition  of  his  stock.  When  they  had  proceeded  aJDOut  six 
miles,  and  were  passing  across  a  prairie,  they  saw  an  Indian  ap- 
proaching them  in  the  distance,  and  walking  in  the  same  path  over 
which  they  were  traveling.  On  a  nearer  approach,  it  was  found  to 
be  the  Shawanoe  chief,  Waw-wil-a-way,  the  old  and  faithful  hunter  of 
General  Massie  during  his  surveying  tours,  and  an  unwavering 
friend  of  the  white  men.  He  was  a  sober,  brave,  intelligent  man, 
well  known  to  most  of  the  settlers  in  the  country,  and  beloved  by 
all  for  his  frank  and  generous  demeanor.  He  had  a  wife  and  two 
sons,  who  were  alko  much  respected  by  their  white  neighbors 
where  they  resided,«oear  the  falls  of  Paint  Greek. 

Waw-wil-a-way  was  frequently  engaged  in  taking  wild  game  and 
skins  to  Old  Town,  for  the  purpose  of  exchanging  them  for  such 
articles  as  he  needed.  He  had  left  home  this  morning  on  foot  with 
his  gun,  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  Frankfort,  and  meeting  the  com- 
pany named,  he  approached  them  in  that  frank  and  friendly  man- 
ner which  always  characterized  his  intercourse  with  his  white  breth- 
ren. After  shaking  hands  with  them  most  cordially,  he  inquired 
of  the  health  of  each  and  their  families.  The  salutation  being  over, 
Wolf  asked  him  to  trade  guns  with  him,  and  the  chief  assenting, 
an  exchange  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  examining  previous  to 
concluding  the  bargain.  While  this  was  going  on,  Wolf,  being  on 
horseback,  unperceived  by  Waw-wil-a-way,  opened  the  pan,  and 
threw  out  the  priming,  and,  handing  it  back,  said  he  believed  he 
would  not  trade  with  him. 

Wolf  and  Williams  then  dismounted,  and  asked  the  chief  whether 
the  Indians  had  commenced  war.  He  replied :  "  No,  no  !  the  In- 
dians and  white  men  are  now  all  one,  all  brothers." 


ENCOUNTER  BETWEEN  WAW-WIL-A-WAY  AND  WOLF.         167 

Wolf  then  asked  whether  he  had  heard  that  the  Indians  had 
killed  Captain  Herrod. 

The  chief,  much  surprised  at  the  intelligence,  replied  that  he  had 
not  heard  it,  and  seemed  to  doubt  its  correctness.  Wolf  affirmed 
that  it  was  true.  Waw-wil-a-way  remarked  that  perhaps  some  bad 
white  man  had  done  it,  and  after  a  few  more  words,  the  parties 
separated,  each  going  his  own  way. 

The  chief  had  walked  about  ten  steps,  when  Wolf,  taking  delib- 
erate aim,  shot  him  through  the  body.  Waw-wil-a-way  did  not 
fall,  although  he  felt  his  wound  was  mortal,  nor  did  he  consent  to 
die  as  most  men  would  have  done  under  similar  circumstances. 

Bringing  his  unerring  rifle  to  his  shoulder,  he  leveled  it  at  Wil- 
liams, who,  in  his  efforts  to  keep  his  horse  between  himself  and  the 
Indian,  so  frightened  him  that  his  body  was  exposed,  and  when 
the  rifle  was  discharged,  he  dropped  dead  near  his  animal.  Ren- 
dered desperate  by  his  wounds,  the  Indian  then  clubbed  his  gun, 
and  dealing  Wolf  a  fearful  blow,  brought  him  to  the  earth.  Recov- 
ering, and  being  strong  and  active,  he  closed  upon  the  Indian,  and 
made  an  effort  to  seize  him  by  the  long  tuft  of  hair  on  the  crown  of 
his  head.  A  shawl  was  tied  around  the  Indian's  head  in  the  form 
of  a  turban,  and  this  being  seized  by  Wolf,  instead  of  the  hair,  he 
gave  a  violent  jerk  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  him  to  the  ground. 
The  shawl  gave  way,  and  Wolf  fell  upon  his  back.  At  this,  the  In- 
dian drew  his  scalping-knife,  and  made  a  thrust  at  Wolf,  who,  see- 
ing his  danger,  and  throwing  up  his  feet  to  ward  off  the  blow,  re- 
ceived the  blade  of  the  knife  in  his  thigh.  In  the  scuffle  the  handle 
broke  off,  and  left  the  blade  fast  in  the  wound.  At  the  same  time, 
Wolf  made  a  stroke  at  the  Indian,  the  blade  of  his  knife  entering 
the  breast-bone.  Just  then  Ferguson  came  to  Wolf's  assistance ; 
but  the  Indian,  taking  up  Wolfs  gun,  struck  him  on  the  head  a  ter- 
rible blow,  and  brought  him  to  the  ground,  laying  bare  his  skull 
from  the  crown  to  the  ear.  Here  the  sanguinary  conflict  ended,  and 
it  all  occurred  in  less  time  then  it  has  taken  the  reader  to  peruse 
this  acconnt  of  it. 

When  the  deadly  strife  ended,  the  foes  of  Waw-wil-a-way  were 
all  lying  at  his  feet,  and  had  he  been  able  to  follow  up  his  blows, 
he  would  have  dispatched  them,  for  they  were  completely  within 
his  power.  But  his  strength  failed  him,  and  perhaps  his  sight,  for 
he  must  have  been  in  the  agonies  of  death  during  the  whole  con- 
flict. It  may  be  that  the  poor  Indian  relented,  and  that  forgiveness 
played  like  sunshine  around  his  generous  heart.  He  cast  one 
glance  upon  his  fallen  foes;  then  turning  away,  he  walked  out  into 
the  grass,  and  fell  upon  his  face  amid  the  wild-flowers  of  the  prairie, 
where  his  heart  at  once  and  forever  was  still. 

During  the  entire  engagement  he  never  spoke  a  word.  Silently 
he  acted  his  part  in  the  fearful  drama,  as  though  moved  by  an  in- 
visible agency.  The  course  of  Wolf  and  his  comrades  was  most 
unwise  indeed,  and  should  never  have  been  encouraged  by  any  one. 


168  HISTORY  OF  FOKT 

They  first  attempted  to  disarm  him  by  throwing  the  priming  out  of 
his  gun,  and  then  talking  with  him  and  parting  under  the  mask  of 
friendship.  Had  Wolf  and  his  companions  supposed  him  to  be  ac- 
cessory to  the  death  of  Herrod  in  any  way,  he  would  have  gone 
with  them  cheerfully  to  Old  Town  or  Chilicothe,  and  given  himself 
up  to  an  investigation.  But  Wolf  was  determined  on  murder,  and 
the  blood  of  Waw-wil-a-way  rests  upon  his  head.* 

Williams,  when  found,  was  stone  dead,  but  Ferguson  and  Wolf 
subsequently  recovered.  The  surgeon  who  examined  Waw-wil-a- 
way  stated -that  every  one  of  his  wounds  was  mortal,  and  those  of 
the  two  whites  were  so  severe  that  it  wras  many  months — and  they 
underwent  great  suffering — before  they  were  themselves  again. 

This  occurrence  added  fuel  to  the  excitement.  The  Indians  fled 
in  one  direction  and  the  whites  in  another,  each  party  undecided 
what  course  to  pursue.  Several  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  Chili- 
cothe went  into  the  Indian  country,  where  they  found  Tecumseh 
and  a  number  of  his  people.  These  disavowed  all  connection  with 
the  murder  of  Herrod,  and  affirmed  that  it  was  their  intention  to 
remain  true  to  the  Greenville  treaty.  To  quell  the  apprehension, 
Tecumseh  returned  with  the  deputation  to  give  them  personal  as- 
surance of  his  intentions.  The  people  were  called  together,  and 
through  an  interpreter,  Tecumseh  delivered  a  speech  of  which 
a  listener  said :  "  When  he  rose  to  speak,  as  he  cast  his  gaze  over 
the  vast  multitude,  which  the  interesting  occasion  had  drawn  to- 
gether, he  appeared  one  of  the  most  dignified  men  I  ever  beheld. 
While  this  orator  of  nature  was  speaking,  the  vast  crowd  preserved 
the  most  profound  silence.  From  the  confident  manner  in  which 
he  spoke  of  the  intention  of  the  Indians  to  adhere  to  the  treaty  of 
Greenville,  and  live  in  peace  and  friendship  with  their  white  breth- 
ren, he  dispelled,  as  if  by  magic,  the  apprehensions  of  the  whites — 
the  settlers  returned  to  their  deserted  farms,  and  business  generally 
was  resumed  throughout  that  region."  As  Drake  remarks,  the 
declaration  of  no  other  Indian  would  have  dissipated  the  fears  ©f  a, 
border  man  which  then  pervaded  the  settlement.! 

The'  maternal  history  of  the  Prophet  and  Tecumseh  is,  that  their 
mother  gave  birth,  about  1770,  to  three  children  at  one  time,  who 
were  subsequently  named  Tecumseh  (meaning  a  conger  crouching 
for  his  prey] ;  Ellskwatawa,  (an  open  door) ;  and  Eumskaka.  The 
latter  seems,  however,  never  to  have  created  any  special  attention 
among  the  tribes.  During  the  early  period  of  the  life  of  the  Prophet 
(Ellskwatawa),  he  is  said  to  have  given  himself  up  almost  wholly 
to  a  life  of  intoxication  ;  and  it  was  not  until  about  1804  that  he  be- 
gan to  abandon  his  old  habit  of  drunkenness.  A  sudden  change 
then  came  over  him.  One  day,  in  his  wigwam,  while  lighting  his 
pipe,  the  account  runs,  "  he  fell  back  in  a  trance  upon  his  bed,  and 
continued  a  long  time  motionless,  and  without  any  signs  of  life." 
Supposing  him  to  bo  dead,  his  friends  immediately  began  to  pre- 

*  J.  B.  Finlcy.  '  f  Life  of  Tecumseb,  by  Edward  S.  Ellis. 


ACCOUNT  OF  ELSKWATAWA,  THE  PKOPHET.  16'J 

f  , 

pare  for  his  burial.  Agreeably  to  Indian  custom,  the  head  men  of 
the  tribe  at  once  gathered  about  the  body,  and  were  in  the  act  of 
removing  it,  when,  to  their  great  astonishment,  Ellskwatawa,  (the 
Prophet)  suddenly  awoke,  and  began  to  address  those  about  him  aa 
follows :  " Be  not  alarmed,"  said  he ;  "I  have  seen  heaven.  Call 
the  tribe  together,  that  I  may  reveal  to  them  the  whole  of  my  vis- 
ion." His  request  was  readily  complied  with,  and  he  at  once  began 
to  speak.  He  said  "  two  beautiful  young  men  had  been  sent  from 
Heaven  by  the  Great  Spirit,"  who  spoke  to  him  thus :  "  The  Great 
Spirit  is  angry  with  you,  and  will  destroy  all  the  red  men,  unless 
you  abandon  drunkenness,  lying,  and  stealing,  If  you  will  not  do 
this,  and  turn  yourselves  to  him,  you  shall  never  enter  the  beautiful 
place  which  we  will  now  show  you."  Whereupon,  he  affirmed,'  he 
was  "  conducted  to  the  gates  of  Heaven,"  and  saw  "all  the  glories, 
but  was  not  permitted  to  enter.  Thus  viewing  the  beauties  of  the 
other  world,  without  being  permitted  to  enter,  he  was  told  to  return 
to  the  earth  again,  and  acquaint  the  Indians  with  what  he  had  seen, 
and  to  persuade  them  to  repent  of  their  vices,  saying  that  then 
"  they  would  visit  him  again."  After  this,  Ellskawatawa  assumed 
the  powers  and  title  of  "  Prophet,"  establishing  himself  at  Green- 
ville, near  the  point  where  General  Wayne  had  held  the  famous 
treaty  with  the  tribes  in  1795;  and  so  famous  did  he  become,  that 
"immense  throngs  of  men,  women,  and  children  from  the  tribes  on 
the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  Lake  Superior  "  visited  him,  and  "  the 
most  extravagant  tales  were  told  and  believed  by  the  Indians  of 
his  power  to  perfom  miracles."  Indeed,  "  no  fatigue  or  suffering 
was  considered  too  great  to  be  endured  for  a  sight  of  him."  Like 
the  famous  Delaware  Prophet,  at  the  period  of  Pontiac'a  move- 
ments, he  proclaimed  that  "  the  Great  Spirit  who  had  made  the  red 
men,  was  not  the  same  that  made  the  white  men ; "  and  urged  that 
the  misfortunes  of  the  Indians  were  owing  to  their,  having  aban- 
doned their  old  modes  of  living,  and  adopted  many  of  the  customs 
and  usages  of  the  pale  faces,  in  the  use  of  their  guns,  blankets, 
whisky,  etc. — all  of  which  must  be  thrown  away,  and  the  red  men 
again  return  to  their  primitive  customs,  clothing  themselves1  in 
skins,  etc.  His  followers  were  now  numerous,  and  the  frontier  settle- 
ments gradually  became  alarmed  at  his  movements  and  those  of 
his  brother,  Tecumseh.* 

In  1805,  the  Shawanoes  had  wandered  from  their  old  hunting 
grounds  and  places  of  abode,  and  an  effort  was  then  made  to  bring 
the  tribe  together  again.  Tecumseh  and  his  party  had  settled  upon 
White  river,  and  others  of  the  tribe  had  begun  to  settle  upon  an- 
other tributary -stream  of  the  Wabash.  Tecumseh  and  some  others 
of  the  Shawanoes,  from  different  points,  having  some  time  in 
1805,  started  for  the  Auglaize  towns,  met  at  Greenville,  the  site  of 
the  old  Wayne  treaty  ground,  and  there  finding  his  brother,  Ellskwa- 
tawa, the  Prophet,  Tecumseh  and  the  other  party,  through  the  per- 

*  "  Famous  Indians,"  pages  255,  256,  and  257. 


170  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

suasions  of  the  Prophet,  concluded  to  proceed  no  farther,  and  at 
once  began  to  establish  themselves  at  the  old  treaty  ground  of 
Greenville. 

Here,  says  Drake,  the  Prophet  commenced  the  practice  of  those 
sorceries  and  incantations  by  which  he  gained  such  notoriety.  In 
the  autumn,  he  assembled  a  large  number  of  Shawanoes,  Delawares, 
Wyandotts,  Pottawattamies,  Ottawas,  Kickapoos,  Chippewas  and 
Senecas,  upon  the  Auglaize  river,  where  he  made  known  to  them 
the  sacred  character  he  had  taken  upon  himself.  He  harangued 
them  at  considerable  length,  denouncing,  it  is  said,  the  belief  and 
practice  of  witchcraft  common  among  them,  and  declaiming  against 
drunkenness  with  great  eloquence  and  success.  He  advocated 
many  practices  which  were  really  virtuous,  and  ended  by  affirming 
with  great  solemity  that  power  was  given  him  by  the  Great  Spirit, 
to  cure  all  diseases,  to  confound  his  enemies,  and  to  stay  the  arm  of 
death,  in  sickness,  or  on  the  battle-field.* 

These  assertions  of  the  Prophet  had  great  weight  with  the  people 
— and  so  much  confidence  was  placed  in  him,  that  he  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  put  to  death  those  who  in  the  least  disputed  his  peculiar 
claims.  His  plan,  when  he  desired  the  death  of  any  one,  was 
to  denounce  him  as  guilty  of  witchcraft,  and  then  to  call  in  the  help 
of  others  in  putting  him  out  of  the  way.  Several  prominent  men 
of  the  tribe,  who  were  unfortunate  enough  to  possess  more  common 
sense  then  the  others,  were  put  to  torture.  Among  these  was  a  well 
known  Delaware  chief,  named  Teteboxti,  who  calmly  assisted  in 
making  his  own  funeral  pile.  Others  of  his  family  were  doomed  to 
death,  and  the  sacrifices  at  last  grew  so  numerous  that  Governor 
Harrison  sent  a  special  messenger  to  the  Delawares  with  the  fol- 
lowing speech: 

"  MY  CHILDREN  : — My  heart  is  filled  with  grief,  and  my  eyes  are 
dissolved  in  tears,  at  the  news  which  has  reached  me.  You  have 
been  celebrated  for  your  wisdom  above  all  the  tribes  of  red  people 
who  inhabit  this  great  island.  Yoilr  fame  as  warriors  has  extended 
to  the  remotest  nations,  and  the  wisdom  of  your  chiefs  has  gained 
for  you  the  appellation  oi  grandfathers,  from  all  the  neighboring 
tribes.  From  what  cause,  then,  does  it  proceed,  that  you  have  de- 
parted from  the  wise  counsel  of  your  fathers,  and  covered  your- 
selves with  guilt  ?  My  children,  tread  back  the  steps  you  have 
taken,  and  endeavor  to  regain  the  straight  road  which  you  have 
abandoned.  The  dark,  crooked  and  thorny  one  which  you  are  now 
pursuing,  will  certainly  lead  to  endless  woe  and  misery.  But  who 
is  this  pretended  prophet,  who  dares  to  speak  in  the  name  of  the 
Great  Creator  ?  Examine  him.  Is  he  more  wise  or  virtuous  than 
you  are  yourselves,  that  he  should  be  selected  to  convey  to  you  the 
orders  ot  your  God  ?  Demand  of  him  some  proofs  at  least,  of  his 
being  the  messenger  of  the  Deity.  If  God  has  really  employed 
him,  he  has  doubtless  authorized  him  to  perform  miracles,  that'  he 

*  Drake. 


ADDRESS  OF  Gov.  HARRISON.  •  171 

may  be  known  and  received  as  a  prophet.  If  he  is  really  a  prophet, 
ask  of  him  to  cause  the  sun  to  stand  still — the  moon  to  alter  its 
course — the  rivers  to  cease  to  flow — or  the  dead  to  rise  from  their 
graves.  If  he  does  these  things,  you  may  then  believe  that  he  has 
been  sent  from  God.  He  tells  you  the  Great  Spirit  commands  you 
to  punish  with  death  those  who  deal  in  magic  ;  and  that  he  is  au- 
thorized to  point  such  out.  Wretched  delusion  !  Is  then  the  Mas- 
ter of  Life  obliged  to  employ  mortal  man  to  punish  those  who  of- 
fend him  ?  Has  he  not  the  thunder  and  all  the  powers  of  nature  at 
his  command  ? — and  could  he  not  sweep  away  from  the  earth  a 
whole  nation  with  one  motion  of  his  arm?  My  children,  do  not  be- 
lieve that  the  great  and  good  Creator  of  mankind  has  directed  you 
to  destroy  your  own  flesh;  and  do  not  doubt  but  that  if  you  pursue 
this  abominable  wickedness,  his  vengeance  will  overtake  and  crush 
you. 

"  The  above  is  addressed  to  you  in  the  name  of  the  Seventeen 
Fires.*  I  now  speak  to  you  from  myself,  as  a  friend  who  wishes 
nothing  more  sincerely  than  to  see  you  prosperous  and  happy. 
Clear  your  eyes,  I  beseech  you,  from  the  mist  which  surrounds 
them.  No  longer  be  imposed  upon  by  the  arts  of  an  impostor. 
Drive  him  from  your  town,  and  let  peace  and  harmony  once  more 
prevail  among  you.  Let  your  poor  old  men  and  women  sleep  in 
quietness,  and  banish  from  their  minds  the  dreadful  idea  of  being 
burnt  alive  by  their  own  friends  and  countrymen.  I  charge  you  to 
stop  your  bloody  career ;  and,  if  you  value  the  friendship  of  your 
great  father,  the  President — if  you  wish  to  preserve  the  good  opin- 
ion of  the  Seventeen  Fires,  let  me  hear  by  the  return  of  the  bearer, 
that  you  have  determined  to  follow  my  advice." 

The  effect  of  this  speech  was  very  great,  both  with  the  Delawares 
and  the  Shawanoes,  for  the  governor  was  a  man  much  beloved  by 
the  Indians  of  the  northwest.  For  a  time  the  influence  of  the  prophet 
was  greatly  checked,  though  the  Kickapoos,  with  some  smaller 
tribes,  who  were  still  inclined  to  acknowledge  and  encourage  the 
claims  of  the  prophet,  put  the  greatest  trust  in  him.  And  it  was 
about  this  period,  that  a  Wyandott  chief,  from  Lower  Sandusky,  a 
Christian  preacher,  licensed  by  the  Methodist  denomination,  visited 
the  Prophet,  with  a  view  of  gaining  some  clue  as  to  his  noted  power. 
After  a  year's  sojourn  with  him,  the  Wyandott  chief,  returned  to 
his  people,  fully  persuaded  that  the  Prophet  was  an  impostor. 

Hearing,  sometime  before  its  occurrence,  that  an  eclipse  of  the 
sun  was  to  take  place  at  a  certain  time,  during  the  year  1806,  the 
Prophet  announced  to  his  people  that,  on  a  certain  day,  the  sun 
would  hide  his  face,  and  the  earth  be  veiled  in  darkness  for  a  time. 
Coming  to  pass,  as  he  had  told  them,  the  occurrence  of  this  phe- 
nomenon had  the  effect  to  greatly  strengthen  his  influence  again 
over  the  tribes.  Nothing  of  special  note,  however,  occurred  until 
the  spring  of  1807,  when  it  was  made  known  that  Tecumseh  and 

*  The  seventeen  States  then  composing  the  Union.  ' 


172  HlHTOKY    OF   FOET     WAYKE. 

/ 

his  brother,  the  Prophet,  had  assembled  several  hundred  of  their 
people  at  Greenville,  where,  through  their  harangues,  they  had 
succeeded  in  working  them  up  to  the  highest  state  of  excitement, 
with  a  view  to  make  their  control  the  stronger,  and  to  prepare  the 
Avay  for  a  confederacy  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  northwest.  At 
these  demonstrations,  the  people  of  the  west  became  alarmed,  and 
soon  began  to  make  strenuous  efforts  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of 
such  movement  on  the  part  of  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet,  but 
without  success  for  a  time. 

Sometime  subsequent  to  the  capture  of  this  point  by  Wayne  and 
the  treaty  of  Greenville,  Capt.  Wells,  with  whom  the  reader  is  al- 
ready acquainted,  as  having  bid  his  old  friend,  Little  Turtle,  good 
bye,  and  left  his  old  home  here  to  join  Wayne's  army,  then  on  its 
march  thitherward,  received  the  appointment  by  the  government 
as  Indian  agent  here,  in  which  capacity  he  acted  for  several  years 
after. 

Having  received  a  letter  from  the  President,  through  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  addressed  to  the  Indians,  and  reminding  them  that 
they  were  assembled  within  the  government  purchase,  and  desiring 
them  to  remove  to  some  other  point,  where  the  government  would 
render  them  all  the  aid  they  needed  in  settling  anew  upon  territory 
not  held  by  the  government,  Captain  Wells  sent  one  Anthony 
Shane,  a  half-breed  Shawanoe,  with  a  message  to  Tecumseh,  invit- 
ing the  latter,  with  his  brother  and  two  other  chiefs,  to  visit  him  at 
Fort  Wayne. 

Shane  had  long  been  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Shawanoes, 
and  they  of  course  knew  him  well,  but  seem  not  to  have  regarded 
Shane  very  highly.  Having  made  known  the  substance  of  the 
communication,  Shane  was  met  by  Tecumseh  with  this  reply :  "  Go 
back,"  said  he,  "  to  Fort  Wayne,  and  tell  Captain  Wells  that  my 
fire  is  kindled  on  the  spot  appointed  by  the  Great  Spirit  alone ;  and 
if  he  has  anything  to  communicate  to  me,  lie  must  come  here  ;  and 
I  shall  expect  him  six  days  from  this  time." 

But  Wells  did  not  comply  with  Tecumseh's  request.  He  sent 
Shane  again,  instead,  at  the  appointed  time,  with  the  letter  of  the 
President,  through  the  Secretary  of  War,  which  was  readily  com- 
municated to  Tecumseh,  who  was  by  no  means  pleased  that  Wells 
himself  had  not  complied  with  his  desire  in  waiting  upon  him  in 
person.  Having  delivered  an  eloquent  and  glowing  speech  to  'the 
council,  he  told  Shane  to  return  to  Captain  Wells  and  tell  him  he 
'  would  hold  no  further  communication  with  him ;  and  further,  that  if 
the  President  of  the  Seventeen  Fires  had  anything  else  to  say  to 
him,  he  must  send  it  by  a  man  of  more  importance  than  Shane. 
And  thus,  instead  of  dispersing,  the  Indians  continued  to  assemble 
at  Greenville.  Fully  fifteen  hundred  had  passed  and  repassed  Fort 
Wayne,  in  their  visits  to  the  Prophet,  before  the  summer  of  this 
year  (1807)  had  fairly  set  in.  Messengers  and  runners  passed  from 
tribe  to  tribe,  and  were  greatly  aided  by  British  agents  in  carrying 


COMMISSIONERS  SENT  TO  GREENVILLE.  173 

out  their  plans,  which  were  always  carefully  concealed  from  such 
as  were  known  to  be  friendly  to  the  United  States. 

At  the  close  of  summer,  reliable  witnesses  bore  testimony  that 
about  a  thousand  Indians,  in  possession  of  new  rifles,  were  at  Fort 
Wayne  and  Greenville,  all  under  the  control  of  the  Prophet. 

The  alarm  had  now  become  so  general,  that  the  governor  of 
Ohio,  in  the  month  of  September,  sent  a  deputation  to  Greenville  to 
ascertain  the  meaning  of  the  movement.  Arriving  at  Greenville, 
the  commissioners  were  well  received  by  the  Indians — a  council 
was  called,  and  the  governor's  message  read  to  the  assemblage ; 
at  the  close  of  which,  one  of  the  commissioners  addressed  them  in 
explanation  of  their  relationship  to  the  United  States  government, 
urging  them  to  desist  from  all  aggressions  and  remain  neutral, 
should  a  war  with  England  ensue.  Having  heard  the  commis- 
sioner attentively,  according  to  Indian  usage,  they  asked  to  be  per- 
mitted to  meditate  upon  the  matter  until  the  next  day.  In  the 
meantime  the  famous  chief,  Blue  Jacket,  had  been  appointed  to 
deliver  to  the  commissioners  the  sentiments  of  the  council;  and  at 
its  re-assembling,  Blue  Jacket,  through  the  interpreter,  said: 

"  BRETHREN  : — We  are  seated  who  heard  you  yesterday.  You 
will  get  a  true  relation,  so  far  as  our  connections  can  give  it,  who 
are  as  follows  :  Shawnees,  Wyandots,  Pottawatamies,  Tawas,  Chip- 
pewas,  Winnepaus,  Malominese,  Malockese,  Lecawgoes,  and  one 
more  from  the  north  of  the  Chippewas.  Brethren,  you  see  all  these, 
men  sitting  before  you,  who  now  speak  to  you. 

"About  eleven  days  ago  we  had  a  council,  at  which  the  tribe  of 
Wyandots,  (the  elder  brother  of  the  red  people)  spoke  and  said 
God  had  kindled  a  fire,  and  all  sat  around  it.  In  this  council  we 
talked  over  the  treaties  with  the  French  and  the  Americans.  The 
Wyandot  said,  the  French  formerly  marked  a  line  along  the  Alle- 
ghany. mountains,  southerly,  to  Charleston,  (S.  C.)  No  man  was  to 
pass  it  from  either  side.  When  the  Americans  came  to  settle  over 
the  line,  the  English  told  the  Indians  to  unite  and  drive  off  the 
French,  until  the  war  came  on  between  the  British  and  the"  Ameri- 
cans, when  it  was  told  them  that  king  George,  by  his  officers,  di- 
rected them  to  unite  and  drive  the  Americans  back. 

"  After  the  treaty  of  peace  between  the  English  and  the  Ameri- 
cans, the  summer  before  Wayne's  army  came  out,  the  English  held 
a  council  with  the  Indians,  and  told  them  if  they  would  turn  out 
and  unite  as  one  man,  they  might  surround  the  Americans  like 
deer  in  a  ring  of  fire,  and  destroy  them  all.  The  Wyandot  spoke- 
further  in  the  council.  We  see,  said  he,  there  is  like  to  be  war  be- 
tween the  English  and  our  white  brethren,  the  Americans.  Let  us 
unite  and  consider  the  sufferings  we  have  undergone,  from  inter- 
fereing  in  the  wars  of  the  English.  They  have  often  promised  to 
help  us,  and  at  last,  when  we  could  not  withstand  the  army  that 
came  against  us,  and  went  to  the  English  fort  for  refuge,  the  Eng- 
lish told  us, '  I  can  not  let  you  in  ;  you  are  painted  too  much,  my 


174  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

children.'  It  was  then  we  saw  the  British  deal  treacherously  with 
us.  We  now  see  them  going  to  war  again.  We  do  not  know  what 
they  are  going  to  fight  for.  Let  us,  my  brethren,  not  interfere,  was 
the  speech  of  the  Wyandot. 

"  Further,  the  Wyandot  said,  I  speak  to  you,  my  little  brother, 
the  Shawanoes  at  Greenville,  and  to  you  our  little  brothers  all 
around.  You  appear  to  be  at  Greenville  to  serve  the  Supreme  Ru- 
ler of  the  universe.  Now  send  forth  your  speeches  to  all  our  breth- 
ren far  around  us,  and  let  us  unite  to  seek  for  that  which  shall  be 
for  our  eternal  welfare,  and  unite  ourselves  in  a  band  of  perpetual 
brotherhood.  These,  brethren,  are  the  sentiments  of  all  the  men 
who  sit  around  you ;  they  all  adhere  to  what  the  elder  brother,  the 
Wyandot,  has  said,  and  these  are  their  sentiments.  It  is  not  that 
they  are  afraid  of  their  white  brothers,  but  that  they  desire  peace 
and  harmony,  and  not  that  their  white  brethren  could  put  them  to 
great  necessity,  for  their  former  arms  were  bows  and  arrows,  by 
which  they  get  their  living." 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  speech,  the  Commissioners  made  some 
explanation,  whereupon  the  Prophet,  who  seemed  determined  to 
make  every  occasion  advance  his  own  importance,  took  upon  him- 
self the  duty  of  informing  the  whites  why  his  people  had  settled 
upon  Greenville. 

"  About  nine  years  since,"  said  he,  "I, became  convinced  of  the 
errors  of  my  ways,  and  that  I  would  be  destroyed  from  the  face  of 
the  earth  if  I  did  not  amend  them.  Soon  after  I  was  told  what  I 
must  do  to  be  right.  From  that  time  I  have  continually  preached 
to  my  red  brethren,  telling  them  the  miserable  situation  they  are 
in  by  nature,  and  striving  to  convince  them  that  they  must  change 
their  lives,  live  honestly  and  be  just  in  all  their  dealings,  kind  to 
one  other  and  also  to  their  white  brethren ;  affectionate  in  their  fami- 
lies, put  away  lying  and  slandering,  and  serve  the  Great  Spirit  in 
the  way  I  have  pointed  out ;  they  must  never  think  of  war  again  ; 
the  tomahawk  was  not  given  them  to  go  at  war  with  one  another. 
The  Shawnees  at  Tawa  town  could  not  listen  to  me,  but  persecuted 
me.  This  made  a  division  in  the  nation ;  those  who  adhered  to  me 
removed  to  this  place,  where  I  have  constantly  preached  to  them. 
They  did  not  select  this  place  because  it  looked  fine  or  was  valu- 
able, for  it  was  neither ;  but  because  it  was  revealed  to  me  that  this 
is  the  proper  place  where  1  must  establish  my  doctrines.  I  mean 
to  adhere  to  them  while  I  live,  for  they  are  not  mine  but  those  of 
the  Great  Ruler  of  the  world,  and  my  future  life  shall  prove  to  the 
whites  the  sincerity  of  my  professions.  In  conclusion,  my  breth- 
ren, our  six  chiefs  shall  go  with  you  to  Chilieothe." 

Tecumseh,  Roundhead,  Blue  Jacket  and  Panther,  returned  with 
the  Commissioners  to  Chilieothe,  where  a  council  was  called,  and 
in  which  they  gave  the  governor  positive  assurances  that  they  en- 
tertained none  but  peaceful  intentions  toward  the  whites.  A  speech 
which  Tecumseh  delivered  at  the  time  occupied  between  three  and 


ALAEM  AMONG  THE  SETTLEMENTS — COUNCIL  AT  SPRINGFIELD.     175 

four  hours  in  its  delivery.  It  was  eloquent  and  masterly,  and 
showed  that  he  possessed  a  thorough  knowledge  of  all  the  treaties 
which  had  been  made  for  years.  While  he  expressed  his  pacific 
intentions  if  fairly  treated,  he  told  the  governor  to  his  face  .  that 
every  aggression  or  settlement  upon  their  lands  would  be  resisted, 
and  that  no  pretended  treaties  would  insure  the  squatter's  safety. 
Stephen  Ruddell  (who,  with  Anthony  Shane,  has  given  to  the  world 
nearly  all  that  has  been  learned  of  Tecumseh)  acted  as  interpreter 
upon  the  occasion.  Other  of  the  chiefs  spoke,  but  Tecumseh,  it 
was  evident,  was  the  leader,  and  every  word  that  he  uttered  was 
received  with  attention  and  its  full  importance  attached  to  it. 

The  council  terminated  pleasantly,  and  the  governor,  convinced 
that  no  instant  danger  was  threatened  from  the  gatherings  of  the 
Indians  at  Greenville  and  Fort  Wayne,  disbanded  the  militia  which 
he  had  called  into  service.  The  chiefs  returned  to  their  people, 
and  for  a  short  time  the  settlers  were  free  from  alarm  and  appre- 
hension.* 

Not  long  after  this  event  the  settlements  were  again  thrown  into 
still  greater  excitement  by  the  murder  of  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Myers,  who  was  killed  by  the  Indians,  near  where  is  now  the  town 
of  Urbana,  Ohio  ;  and  many  of  the  settlers  returned  to  Kentucky, 
where  they  had  previous!}'  lived,  where  the  alarm  arose  to  such  a 
height  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  call  into  action  a  large  body  of 
militia.  Being  demanded  to  deliver  up  the  murderers,  Tecumseh 
and  his  brother,  the  Prophet,  disclaimed  any  knowledge  of  them — 
said  they  were  not  of  their  people.  A  council  being  finally  held  at 
Springfield,  Tecumseh,  Blackfish,  and  other  chiefs,  with  two  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  parties  of  Indiana,  one  from  the  North,  the  other 
from  Fort  Wayne,  under  Tecumseh,  were  in  attendance.  Being- 
embittered  against  each  other,  each  were  quite  anxious  that  the 
other  should  receive  the  blame  for  the  murder.  Says  Drake,  the 
party  from  the  North,  at  the  request  of  the  Commissioners,  left  their 
arms  a  few  miles  behind  them,  but  Tecumseh  would  not  consent  to 
attend  unless  his  followers  were  allowed  to  keep  theirs  about  them, 
adding  that  his  tomahawk  was  his  pipe,  and  he  might  wish  to  use 
it.  At  this  a  tall,  lank-sided  Fensylvanian,  who  was  standing  among 
the  spectators,  and  who,  perhaps,  had  no  love  for  the  glittering 
tomahawk  of  the  self-willed  chief,  cautiously  stepped  up,  and 
handed  him  a  greasy,  long-stemmed  clay  pipe,  respectfully  intima- 
ting that  if  he  would  only  deliver  up  his  dreadful  tomahawk,  he 
might  use  that  article.  The  chief  took  it  between  his  thumb  and 
finger,  held  it  up,  looked  at  it  a  few  seconds,  then  at  the  owner, 
who  all  the  time  was  gradually  backing  away  from  him,  and  in- 
stantly threw  it,  with  a  contemptuous  sneer,  over  his  head  into  the 
bushes.  The  commissioners  being  compelled  to  wave  the  point, 
the  council  proceeded  ;  and  the  result  was,  that  the  murder  was  an 
individual  affair,  sanctioned  by  neither  party — which  brought  the 

*  Life  of  Tecumseh. 


176  HlSTOKY  OF  FOET  WAYNE 

council  to  a  close,  with  a  reconciliation  of  both  parties,  and  to  the 
acceptance  of  the  settlers. 

But  the  air  was  still  rife  with  trouble.  The  protestations  of  Te- 
cnmseh  and  the  Prophet  could  not  allay  the  uneasiness  of  the  set- 
tlements ;  and  before  the  end  of  the  fall  months  of  this  year,  (1807) 
Governor  Harrison  sent  the  following  speech,  by  an  Indian  agent, 
to  the  Shawanoes : 

"  MY  CHILDREN  : — Listen  to  me ;  I  speak  in  the  name  of  your 
father,  the  great  chief  of  the  Seventeen  Fires. 

"  My  children,  it  is  now  twelve  years  since  the  tomahawk,  which 
you  had  seized  by  the  advice  of  your  father,  the  king  of  Great 
Britain,  was  buried  at  Greenville,  in  the  presence  of  that  great  war- 
rior, General  Wayne. 

"  My  children,  you  then  promised,  and  the  Great  Spirit  heard  it, 
that  you  would  in  future  live  in  peace  and  friendship  with  your 
brothers,  the  Americans.  You  made  a  treaty  with  your  father,  and 
one  that  contained  a  number  of  good  things,  equally  beneficial  to 
all  the  tribes  of  the  red  people,  who  were  parties  to  it. 

"  My  children,  you  promised  in  that  treaty  to  acknowledge  no 
other  father  than  the  chief  of  the  Seventeen  Fires  ;  and  never  to 
listen  to  the  proposition  of  any  foreign  nation.  You  promised  never 
to  lift  up  the  tomahawk  against  any  of  your  father's  children,  and 
to  give  him  notice  of  any  other  tribe  that  intended  it ;  your  father 
also  promised  to  do  something  for  you,  particulary  to  deliver  to 
you  every  year  a  certain  quantity  of  goods ;  to  prevent  any  white 
man  from  settling  on  your  lands  without  your  consent,  or  to  do  you 
any  personal  injury.  He  promised  to  run  a  line  between  your  land 
and  his,  so  that  you  might  know  your  own ;  and  you  were  to  be  per- 
mitted to  live  and  hunt  upon  your  father's  land,  as  long  as  you  be- 
haved yourselves  well.  My  children,  which  of  these  articles  has 
your  father  broken?  You  know  that  he  has  observed  them  all  with 
the  utmost  good  faith.  But,  my  children,  have  you  done  so  ?  Have 
you  not  always  had  your  ears  open  to  receive  bad  advice  from  the 
white  people  beyond  the  lakes  ? 

"  My  children,  let  us  look  back  to  times  that  are  past.  It  has  been 
a  long  time  since  you  called  the  king  of  Great  Britain  father.  You 
know  that  it  is  the  duty  of  a  father  to  watch  over  his  children,  to 
give  them  good  advice,  and  to  do  every  thing  in  his  power  to  make 
them  happy.  What  has  this  father  of  yours  done  for  you,  during 
the  long  time  that  you  have  looked  up  to  him  for  protection  and 
advice  ?  Are  you  wiser  and  happier  than  you  were  before  you 
knew  him,  or  is  your  nation  stronger  or  more  respectable  ?  No,  my 
children,  he  took  you  by  the  hand  when  you  were  a  powerful  tribe; 
you  held  him  fast,  supposing  he  was  your  friend,  and  he  conducted 
you  through  paths  filled  with  thorns  and  briers,  which  tore  your 
flesh  and  shed  your  blood.  Your  strength  was  exhausted,  and  you 
could  no  longer  follow  him.  Did  he  stay  by  you  in  your  distress, 
and  assist  and  comfort  you?  No,  he  led  you  into  danger  and  then 


TECUMSEH  AND  THE  PROPHET  AT  TIPPECANOE.  177 

abandoned  you.  He  saw  your  blood  flowing  and  lie  would  give 
you  no  bandage  to  tie  up  your  wounds.  This  was  the  conduct  of 
the  man  who  called  himself  your  father.  The  Great  Spirit  opened 
your  eyes  ;  you  heard  the  voice  of  the  chief  of  the  Seventeen  Fires 
speaking  the  words  of  peace.  He  called  you  to  follow  him ;  you 
came  to  him,  and  he  once  more  put  you  on  the  right  way,  on  the 
broad,  smooth  road  that  would  have  led  to  happiness.  But  the 
voice  of  your  deceiver  is  again  heard  ;  and,  forgetful  of  your  former 
sufferings,  you  are  again  listening  to  him.  My  children,  shut  your 
cars  and  mind  him  not,  or  he  will  lead  you  to  ruin  and  misery. 

"  My  children,  I  have  heard  bad  news.  The  sacred  spot  where 
the  great  council-fire  was  kindled,  around  which  the  Seventeen 
Fires  and  ten  tribes  of  their  children  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace — 
that  very  spot  where  the  Great  Spirit  saw  his  red  and  white  child- 
ren encircle  themselves  with  the  chain  of  friendship — that  place 
has  been  selected  for  dark  and  bloody  councils.  My  childien,  this 
business  must  be  stopped.  You  have  called  in  a  number  of  men 
from  the  most  distant  tribes,  to  listen  to  a  fool,  who  spake  not  the 
words  of  the  Great  Spirit,  but  those  of  the  devil,  and  of  the  British 
agents.  My  children,  your  conduct  has  much  alarmed  the  white 
settlers  near  you.  They  desire  that  you  will  send  away  those  peo- 
ple, and  if  they  wish  to  have  the  impostor  with  them,  they  can 
carry  him.  Let  him  go  to  the  lakes ;  he  can  hear  the  British  more 
distinctly." 

The  Prophet's  reply  was,  that  evil  birds  had  sung  in  the  Govern- 
or's ears ;  and  he  denied  any  correspondence  with  the  British,  pro- 
testing that  he  had  no  intentions  whatever  of  disturbing  the  adjoin- 
ing settlements.  It  soon  became  evident,  however,  that  the  assem- 
blages of  the  Prophet  could  not  be  dispersed  without  a  resort  to 
arms  on  the  part  of  the  government ;  and  Gov.  Harrison,  strongly 
disposed  to  think  that  no  harm  was  intended  by  the  Indians  towards 
the  settlements,  let  the  matter  rest,  and  the  assemblages  continued, 
large  bodies  of  Indians  coming  down  from  the  lakes  in  the  ea-rly 
part  of  the  following  year  (1808),  where,  as  their  supply  of  provis- 
ions became  reduced  or  exhausted,  they  received  fresh  supplies 
from  Fort  Wayne. 

But  a  change  of  base  was  contemplated,  and  the  Pottawattamies 
having  granted  them  a  portion  of  laud,  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet, 
in  the  spring  of  this  year,  removed  with  the  tribe  to  Tippecaiioe, 
where  large  bodies  were  soon  collected,  and,  among  other  exer- 
cises, war-like  sports  became  frequent  among  them.  Again  the 
settlements  were  in  a  high  state  of  uneasiness,  and  many  were 
ready  to  declare  that  they  knew  from  the  first  that  the  Indians  were 
but  preparing  for  the  consummation  of  some  treacherous  scheme. 
Many  of  the  Indians  among  them  were  from  the  north.  The  Miam- 
ies  and  Dela wares,  being  friendly  to  the  whites,  were  greatly  op- 
posed to  their  coining,  and  even  sent  a  delegation  to  the  Prophet 


178  HlSTOKT  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

to  stop  them.  But  Tecumseh  and  his  brother,  the  Prophet,  in  re- 
ceiving them,  said  they  were  not  to  be  thwarted  in  their  purposes  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  their  brethren ;  and  the  Miami  and 
Delaware  delegation  returned  fully  oi  the  belief  that  the  settlements 
were  not  without  the  strongest  grounds  for  the  apprehensions  they 
had  so  long  manifested. 

August  had  come.  The  Prophet,  accompanied  by  several  of  his 
followers,  had  visited  Governor  Harrison,  at  Vincennes,  protesting, 
as  formerly,  that  his  purposes  were  peaceable.  Said  he,  to  Gov. 
Harrison. : 

"  FATHER  : — It  is  three  years  since  I  first  began  with  that  system 
of  religion  which  I  now  practice.  The  white  people  and  some  of 
the  Indians  wrere  against  me  ;  but  I  had  no  other  intention  but  to 
introduce  among  the  Indians,  those  good  principles  of  religion 
which  the  white  people  profess.  I  was  spoken  badly  of  by  the 
wiiite  people,  who  reproached  me  with  misleading  the  Indians ;  but 
I  defy  them  to  say  I  did  anything  amiss. 

"  Father,  I  was  told  that  you  intended  to  hang  me.  When  I 
heard  this,  I  intended  to  remember  it,  and  tell  my  father,  when  I 
went  to  see  him,  and  relate  the  truth. 

"  I  heard,  when  I  settled  on  the  Wabash,  that  my  father,  the  Gov- 
ernor, had  declared  that  all  the  land  between  Yinceunes  and  Fort 
Wayne,  was  the  properly  of  the  Seventeen  Fires.  I  also  heard 
that  you  wanted  to  know,  my  father,  whether  I  was  God  or  man; 
and  that  you  said  if  I  was  the  former,  I  should  not  steal  horses.  I 
heard  this  from  Mr.  Wells,  but  I  believed  it  originated  with  himself. 

"  The  Great  Spirit  told  me  to  tell  the  Indians  that  he  had  made 
them,  and  made  the  world — that  he  had  placed  them  on  it  to  do 
good  and  not  evil. 

"  I  told  all  the  red-skins,  that  the  way  they  were  in  was  not  good, 
and  that  they  ought  to  abandon  it. 

"  That  we  ought  to  consider  ourselves  as  one  man  ;  but  we  ought 
to  live  agreeably  to  our  several  customs,  the  red  people  after  their 
mode,  and  the  white  people  after  theirs ;  particularly,  that  they  should 
not  drink  whiskey  ;  that  it  was  not  made  for  them,  but  the  white 
people,  who  alone  knew  how  to  use  it ;  and  that  it  is  the  cause  of 
all  the  mischiefs  which  the  Indians  suffer  ;  and  that  they  must  al- 
ways follow  the  directions  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  we  must  listen 
to  him,  as  it  was  He  that  made  us ;  determine  to  listen  to  nothing 
that  is  bad;  do  not  take  up  the  tomahawk,  should  it  be  offered  by 
the  British,  or  by  the  Long-Knives  ;  do  not  meddle  with  any  thing 
that  does  not  belong  to  you,  but  mind  your  own  business,  and  culti- 
vate the  ground,  that  your  women  and  your  children  may  have 
enough  to  live  on. 

"  I  now  inform  }7ou  that  it  is  our  intention  to  live  in  peace  \vith 
our  father  and  his  people  forever. 

^  My  father,  I  have  informed  you  what  we  mean  to  do,  and  I  call 
the  Gre^t  Spirit  to  witness  the  truth  of  my  declaration.  The  religion 


Gov.  HARRISON  TESTS  THE  PROPHET.  179 

which  I  have  established  for  the  last  three  years,  has  been  attended 
to  by  the  different  tribes  of  Indians  in  this  part  of  the  world.  These 
Indians  were  once  different  people ;  they  are  now  but  one ;  they 
are  all  determined  to  practice  what  I  have  communicated  to  them, 
that  has  come  immediately  from  the  Great  Spirit  through  me. 

"  Brother,  I  speak  to  you  as  a  warrior.  You  are  one.  But  let  us 
lay  aside  this  character,  and  attend  to  the  care  of  our  children,  that 
they  may  live  in  comfort  and  peace.  We  desire  that  you  will  join 
us  for  the  preservation  of  both  red  and  white  people.  Formerly, 
when  we  lived  in  ignorance,  we  were  foolish ;  but  now,  since  we 
listen  to  the  voice  of  the  Great  Spirit,  we  are  happy. 

"  I  have  listened  to  what  you  have  said  to  us.  You  have  prom- 
ised to  assist  us.  I  now  request  you,  in  behalf  of  all  the  red  peo- 
ple, to  use  your  exertions  to  prevent  the  sale  of  liquor  to  us.  We 
are  all  well  pleased  to  hear  you  say  that  you  will  endeavor  to  pro- 
mote our  happiness.  We  give  you  every  assurance  that  we  will 
follow  the  dictates  of  the  Great  Spirit. 

"  We  are  all  well  pleased  with  the  attention  you  have  showed 
us ;  also  with  the  good  intentions  of  our  father,  the  President.  If 
you  give  us  a  few  articles,  such  as  needles,  flints,  hoes,  powder,  etc., 
we  will  take  the  animals  that  afford  us  meat,  with  powder  and  ball." 

Says  Drake,  to  test  the  influence  of  the  Prophet  over  his  follow- 
ers, Gov.  Harrison  held  conversations  with  and  offered  them  spir- 
its, but  they  always  refused,  and  he  became  almost  convinced  that 
he  was  really  sincere  in  his  professions,  and  had  no  higher  ambi- 
tion than  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  his  race. 

Thus  matters  rested  or  rather  continued ;  and  during  the  follow- 
ing year  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet  sought  quietly  to  add 
strength  to  their  movement.  Both  were  engaged  in  a  deep  game  ; 
and  while  the  Prophet  seemed  the  leading  spirit,  Tecumseh  was 
yet  the  prime  mover  ;  and  the  Prophet  attempted  but  little  without 
first  getting  the  advice  of  the  former,  if  in  reach,  though  it  is  evi- 
dent he  was  most  headstrong  in  much  that  he  undertook. 

In  the  spring  of  1809,  reports  having  reached  the  ear  of  Gov. 
Harrison  that  many  of  the  Indians  were  leaving  the  Prophet  be- 
cause of  his  persistency  in  requiring  them  to  become  party  to  a 
scheme  he  had  in  view  for  the  massacre  of  the  inhabitants  of  Vin- 
cennes,  he  began  the  organization  of  two  companies  of  volunteer 
militia,  with  a  view  to  garrisoning  a  post  some  two  miles  from  Vin- 
cennes.  But  the  Prophet's  followers  having  dispersed  before  the 
close  of  the  summer,  the  alarm  among  the  settlements  became 
placid  again,  and  so  continued  until  the  early  part  of  1810. 

Up  to  1809  Governor  Harrison  continued  his  efforts  in  the  extin- 
guishment of  Indian  claims  to  lands  within  the  Indiana  Territory; 
and  on  the  30th  of  September  of  that  year  concluded  another  treaty 
at  Fort  Wayne,  in  which  the  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Delaware, 
Pottawattamie,  Miami,  and  Eel  Iliver  tribes  participated.  Accord- 
ing to  the  report  of  this  treaty,  the  Indians  gold  and  ceded  to  the 


180  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

United  States  about  two  million  nine  hundred  thousand  acres  of 
land,  principally  situated  on  the  southeastern  side  of  the  river  Wa- 
bash,  and  below  the  mouth  of  Raccoon  Creek,  a  little  stream  which 
Empties  into  the  Wabash,  near  what  is  now  the  boundaries  of  Parke 
county,  in  this  State.  The  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Wea  tribe, 
in  the  following  month,  (26th  of  October)  having  met  Gov.  Harrison 
at  Yincennes,  acknowledged  the  legality  of  this  treaty ;  and  by  a 
treaty  held  at  Vincennes  on  the  9th  of  December  following,  the 
sachems  and  war-chiefs  of  the  Kickapoo  tribe  also  confirmed  the 
treaty  of  Fort  Wayne.  Up  to  this  time,  the  whole  amount  of  land 
ceded  to  the  United  States  by  treaty  stipulations  between  Governor 
Harrison  and  the  different  tribes  of  the  Indiana  Territory,  accord- 
ing to  the  records,  was  29,719,530  acres. 

Having  received,  through  what  he  believed  a  reliable  source, 
certain  facts  regarding  the  conduct  of  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet 
in  an  effort  to  incite  the  Indians  against  the  settlements  of  the  west ; 
and  that  those  who  had  previously  left  the  ranks  of  the  Prophet 
had  again  returned  to  his  support;  and  further,  that  the  British  had 
their  agents  quietly  at  work  among  the  tribes  thus  banded  ;  that  the 
Indians  were  boasting  to  American  traders  that  they  were  getting 
their  ammunition — powder  and  balls — without  cost;  Gov.  Harrison, 
through  instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  in  July.  1810,  be- 
gan at  once  to  prepare  for  the  better  safety  of  the  frontier  settle- 
ments. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

At  lengrli  Disco  •(!,  the  Fury,  came, 
Waving  her  murderous  torch  of  il;nue, 
And  kindled  that  intestine  fire, 

«»**### 

Which,  like  the  lightning-flame  burns  on, 
More  fierce  for  being  rained  upon." 


Further  movements  of  Tecumseh  and  the   Prophet  —  The  "  Doomed  Warrior"  —  Letter 
of  Gov.  Harrison  —  Death  of  Tarhe  —  DLcovery  of  the  plot  u)  massacre  Fort  Wnvur, 
<fec.  —  Efforts  of  Tecumseh  to  obtain  the  aid  of  the  tribes  along  ihe  Mississippi  •  —  '.  u 
fluenceof  British  agents  —  Agents  are  dispatched  to  Tecumsoh    ai;d   the  Pro,. 
The  Prophet  complains  that  the  Indians  had  been  cheated  —  Oov.  Harrison  writis 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  —  He  also  sends  an  address  to  Tecuuueh  ami  the  Prophet  — 
Tecumseh's  visit  to  Vincennes  —  The  conference  —  Eloquence  of  Tteurnsch  —  Hi* 
contempt,  for  the  proffer  of  the  government  —  Personal  appearance  of  Tncu'nseb  — 
His  objections  to  ilie  treaty  of  iort  Wayne  —  Sends  warn  pum  belis  to    hu  di 
tribes  —  Gov.  Harrison's  address  to  the  legislature  —  Statement  of  a  Kiekapoo  chi>.-f 
—  Assurances  of  the  Gov.  of  Missouri  —  Seizure  of  salt  by  the  Pri>ph."i  —  Go< 
Harrison  demands  further  aid  from  the  government  —  Vinci-u 
of  attack  —  Tecumseh  again  visile  Gov.Harison  —  His  departure  fof  1 
Hisefforte  among   he  Creek  Indians  —  His  retui-n  nortir.va.-d  —  Hi.;   churgt*   I 


Prophet  —  alarm  of  the  settlers  —  Ar.ival  of  aid  —  Gov.  Harrison  d«txji7iuu«  to1  bring 
maite.-s  to  a  crisis  —  I'eaceful   protestations  of  the  P  oplief.  —  G<>\  . 


opiiet — G'ov.  Harri«on 


by  the  sentry — 

the  bullets  of  the  white  men  will  not  fiurt  them — Fierce  struggk — IiuiiHii?  route.: 
T!\e  battle  of  Tippecanoe  a  success  for  the  American  wms — Ange,  of 
He  visits  Fort  Wayne  ;  and  th<>  Prophet  /e.ires  to  the  Mis^essinewa. 


i  S  THE  summer  of  1810  advanced  it  became  more  and  more 
evident  to  Gov.  Harrison  that  the  true  purposes  of  Tecumseii 
>and  the  Prophet  were  war  upon  the  whites.  Having  accused 
a  Wyandott  chief,  by  the  name  of  Leatherlips,  known  as  the 
"  Doomed  Warrior,"  with  witchcraft,  it  was  thought  that  the 
Prophet  and  Tecumseh  were  instrumental  in  his  subsequent  miit- 
der ;  though  it  was  asserted  by  a  Mr.  Thatcher  that  a  Wyandott 
chief,  of  the  Porcupine  clan,  known  as  Tarhe  or  Crane,  was  the 
principal  agent  in  the  deed.  But  Gov.  Harrison,  in  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  the  editor  of  the  "  Hesperian,"  1838,  said  of  Tarhe  :  "  I 
have  often  said  I  never  knew  a  better  man,  and  am  confident  he 


182  HISTOKY  OF  FORT    WAYNE. 

would  not  have  been  concerned  in  such  a  transaction  as  is  ascribed 
to  him.  In  support  of  this  opinion  I  offer  the  following  reasons : 
The  execution  of  the  '  Doomed  Wyandott  Chief  is  attributed,  and 
no  doubt  correctly,  to  the  Shawnee  Prophet  and  his  brother  Tecum- 
seh.  To  my  knowledge,  Tarhe  was  always  the  opponent  of  these 
men,  and  could  not  have  been  their  agent  in  the  matter.  The  ac- 
cusation of  witchcraft  was  brought  by  these  Shawnee  brothers,  and 
the  accused  were  exclusively  those  who  were  friendly  to  the  United 
States,  and  who  had  been  parties  to  treaties  by  which  the  Indian 
titles  to  lands  had  been  extinguished.  In  both  these  respects, 
Tarhe  had  rendered  himself  obnoxious  to  the  former.  Tarhe  was 
not  only  the  Grand  Sachem  of  his  tribe,  but  the  acknowledged  head 
of  all  the  tribes  who  were  engaged  in  the  war  with  the  United 
States,  which  was  terminated  by  the  treaty  of  Greenville  ;  and  in 
that  character  the  duplicate  of  the  original  treaty,  engrossed  on 
parchment,  was  committed  to  his  custody,  as  had  been  the  grand 
calumet  which  was  the  symbol  of  peace.  Tarhe  united  with  his 
friend,  Black-Hoof,  the  head  chief  of  the  Shawnees,  in  denying  the 
rank  of  chief  either  to  the  Prophet  or  Tecumseh ;  and,  of  course,  he 
would  not  have  received  it  of  them.  If  the  '  Doomed  Warrior '  had 
been  snetenced  by  a  council  of  his  own  nation,  Tarhe  would  not 
have  directed  the  execution,  but,  as  was  invariably  the  custom,  it 
would  have  been  committed  to  one  of  the  war-chiefs.  The  party 
sent  to  put  the  old  chief  to  death,  no  doubt,  came  immediately  from 
Tippecanoe ;  and  if  it  was  commanded  by  a  Wyandot,  the  proba- 
bility is  that  it  was  Round-Head,  who  was  a  Captain  of  the  band  of 
Wyandots  who  resided  with  the  Prophet,  and  was,  to  a  great  extent, 
under  his  influence." 

Rev.  J.  B.  Finley,  a  missionary  to  the  tribe  of  Tarhe,  and  for  some 
years  most  intimately  acquainted  with  Tarhe,  said  that  Mr.  Thatcher 
and  his  informant  were  wholly  mistaken  in  the  conclusions  regard- 
ing the  accusation  against  Tarhe ;  and  added  that  a  better  and  truer 
Indian  than  he  never  lived. 

Finding  the  "  Doomed  Warrior  "  at  his  home,  some  twelve  miles 
north  of  Columbus,  he  was  made  acquainted  with  the  sentence 
passed  upon  him,  and  calmly  prepared  to  meet  the  fate  which  he 
felt  inevitable.  A  number  of  white  men  present,  sought  to  inter- 
fere in  his  behalf,  but  without  success ;  and  when  the  fatal  hour 
came,  he  is  said  to  have  "  turned  from  his  wigwam,  and,  with  a 
voice  of  surpassing  strength  and  melody,  commenced  the  chant  of 
his  death-song.  He  was  followed  slowly  by  the  Wyandott  warriors, 
all  timing,  with  their  slow  and  measured  march,  the  music  of  his 
wild  and  melancholy  dirge.  The  whites  were  likewise  all  silent 
followers  in  that  strange  procession." 

Having  been  led  to  his  own  grave,  he  knelt  calmly,  resolutely 
down,  and  offered  a  prayer  to  the  Great  Spirit,  at  the  conclusion  of 
which,  still  in  a  kneeling  posture,  one  of  the  Wyandotts  gave  him  a 
heavy  blow  upon  the  head  with  a  tomahawk,  breaking  his  skull. 


Mo\ -fcilEKTS    OF  TECUMSEM  AND   TUE  PROPHET — BRITISH  AID.      183 

After  a  few  moments  more,  ceasing  to  stir,  the  unfortunate  victim 
of  the  Shawanoe  conspirators  and  revolutioners,  with  all  his  ap- 
p'uvl  and  decorations,  was  consigned  to  the  earth  and  hidden  from 
vie w. 

A  lew  weeks  later,  and  Gov.  Harrison  was  made  acquainted  with 
a  plot  that  was  maturing  for  the  surprise  and  massacre  of  Fort 
Wayne,  Detroit,  Chicago,  Vinceunes,  and  St.  Louis.  Tecumseh 
and  the  Prophet  were  moving  as  with  the  slow  but  sure  action  of  a 
volcanoe;  and  the  internal  heat  of  their  efforts  was  continually  made 
the  more  apparent  by  the  rising  cinders  cast  up  in  the  endeavor 
here  and  there  secretly  to  draw  the  different  tribes  of  the  west  and 
south  within  their  circle,  and  by  other  means,  equally  wily  and 
sereptitious,  to  bring  their  plans  to  bear  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
whites  of  the  northwest. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  struggle  for  Independence,  the  opinion 
is  said  to  have  prevailed  with  many  in  England  that  the  American 
colonies  were  not  wholly  lost  to  the  mother  country ;  and  the  hope 
was  entertained  by  such,  that,  at  some  favorable  hour  the  English 
government  would  be  able  to  regain  its  former  hold  upon  the  coun- 
try;  in  which  anticipations,  it  was  thought  the  British  Ministry 
most  earnestly  and  hopefully  united.  From  anticipations  and  de- 
sires of  this  nature,  together  with  the  discomfiture  felt  at  the  failure 
of  their  arms,  may  have  arisen  the  many  hostile  acts  of  interferance 
on  the  part  of  English  agents,  commandants,  and  others  in  their 
employ  along  the  interior  frontiers  of  the  northwestr  and  also  the 
bestowal  of  frequent  larue  supplies  of  ammunition  upon  the  various 
tribes  within  range  of  the  Canadus. 

After  the  discovery  of  the  plot  to  massacre  the  forts,  it  was  as- 
certained that  strong  efforts  were  being  made  to  persuade  the  tribes 
along  the  Mississippi  to  unite  with  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet  in 
their  efforts,  but  up  to  the  period  in  question,  had  met  with  no  great 
degree  of  success  ;  while  the  most  influential  chiefs  among  the  Dela- 
ware's, Miamies,  and  Shawanoes  were  much  opposed  to  the  reck- 
less schemes  and  efforts  of  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet  Besides 
these  facts,  about  this  period,  Governor  Harrison  learned  from  a 
friendly  Indian  that  a  British  agent  had  recently  visited  the  Prophet, 
who  had  encouraged  the  latter  to  continue  in  his  efforts  to  unite 
the  tribes,  and  to  await  a  signal  from  the  British  authorities  before 
carrying  out  their  designs  against  the  Americans. 

Finding  now  that  the  most  constant  watch  fulness  was  necessary, 
and  being  determined  to  obtain  all  the  information  possible  regard- 
ing their  plans,  Governor  Harrison  dispatched  two  agents  to  Te- 
cumseh and  his  brother  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  more  fully  and 
certainly,  if  possible,  their  real  designs  and  plans.  Receiving  the 
agents  very  courteously,  in  reply  to  the  inquiries  made,  the  Prophet 
told  the  agents  that  the  assembling  of  the  Indians  upon  that  spot 
was  by  the  explicit  command  of  the  Great  Spirit. 

Having  heard  the  Prophet,  the  agents  told  him  that  his   move- 


lS-4  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNK. 

ments  had  excited  so  much  alarm  that  the  troops  of  Kentucky  and 
Indiana  were  being  called  out,  and  strong  preparations  were  being 
made  in  anticipation  of  trouble  with  the  tribes. 

In  answer  to  the  questions  of  the  agents  as  to  the  cause  of  his 
complaints  against  the  United  States,  the  Prophet  replied  that  his 
people  had  been  cheated  of  their  lands.  Insisting  that  his  com- 
plaints would  readily  be  liscened  to  by  laying  them  before  Gov. 
HarrisoD,  at  Vincennes,  the  Prophet  refused  to  go,  saying  that, 
while  tner*"-,  upon  a  former  occasion,  he  was  badly  treated. 

Receiving  this  information,  the  Governor  at  once  wrote  to  the 
Secretary,  stating  the  cause,  and  telling  him  that  all  this  caviling 
was  merely  a  pretext  on  the.  part  of  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet  to 
gather  strength  in  the  furtherance  of  their  designs ;  that  he  had  been 
as  liberal  in  the  conclusion  of  treaties  as  his  understanding  of  the 
views  and  opinions  of  the  government  would  permit,  and  that  none 
of  the  tribes  had  just  cause  for  complaint. 

Having  heard,  in  the  month  of  July,  that  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  had 
foriued  an'ailiance  with  the  Prophet,  and  were  ready  and  willing 
to  strike  the  Americans  at  any  time,  Governor  Harrison  set  about 
the  preparation  of  the  following  address,  which  he  forwarded  to  the 
Prophet  by  a  confidential  interpreter : 

"  William  Henry  Harrison,  Governor  and  Commander-in-chief  of 
the  Territory  of  Indiana,  to  the  Shawanoe  chief  and  the  Indians  as- 
sembled at  Tippecanoe: 

"  Noth withstanding  the  improper  language  which  you  have  used 
toward  me,  I  will  endeavor  to  open  your  eyes  to  your  true  interests. 
Notwithstanding  what  bad  white  men  have  told  you,  I  am  not  your 
personal  enemy.  Yem  ought  to  know  this  from  the  manner  in  which 
I  received  and  treated  you  on  your  visit  to  this  place. 

"•Although  I  must  say, that  you  are  an  enemy  to  the  Seventeen 
Fires,  and  that  you  have  used  the  greatest  exertions  with  other  tribes 
to  lead  them  astray.  In  this,  you  have  been  in  some  measure  suc- 
cessful ;  as  I  am  told  they  are  ready  to  raise  the  tomahawk  against 
their  father ;  yet  their  father,  notwithstanding  his  anger  at  their  folly, 
is  full  of  goodness,  and  is  always  ready  to  receive  into  his  arms 
those  of  his  children  who  are  willing  to  repent,  acknowledge  their 
fault,  and  ask  for  his  forgiveness. 

"  There  is  yet  but  little  harm  done,  which  may  easily  be  repaired. 
The  chain  of  friendship  which  united  the  whites  with  the  Indians 
may  be  renewed,  and  be  as  strong  as  ever.  A  great  deal  of  that 
work  depends  upon  you — the  destiny  of  those  who  are  under  yon, 
depends  upon  the  choice  you  may  make  of  the  two  roads  which  are 
before  you.  The  one  is  laige,  open  and  pleasant,  and  loads  to  peace, 
security  and  happiness;  the  other,  on  the  contrary,  is  narrow  and 
crooked,  and  leads  to  misery  and  ruin.  Don't  deceive  yourselves ; 
do  not  believe  that  all  the  nations  of  Indians  united  are  able  to  re- 
sist the  force  of  the  Seventeen  Fires.  I  know  your  warriors  are 
brave,  but  ours  are  not  less  so ;  but  what  can  a  few  brave  warriors 


TECUMSEH'S  Visrr  TO  VINCEXNES.  185 

do  against  the  innumerable  warriors  of  the  Seventeen  Fires?  Our 
blue-coats  are  more  numerous  than  you  can  count ;  our  hunters  are 
like  the  leaves  of  the  forest,  or  the  grains  of  sand  on  the  Wabash. 

"  Do  not  think  that  the  red-coats  can  protect  you  ;  they  are  not 
able  to  protect  themselves.  They  do  not  think  of  going  to  war  with 
us.  If  they  did,  you  would,  in  a  few  months,  see  our  flag  wave 
over  all  the  forts  of  Canada. 

"  What  reason  have  you  to  complain  of  the  Seventeen  Fires  ?  Have 
they  taken  any  thing  from  you  ?  Have  they  ever  violated  the  treat- 
ies made  with  the  red-men  ?  You  say  that  they  have  purchased 
lands  from  them  who  had  no  right  to  sell  them:  show  that  this  is 
true,  and  the  land  will  be  instantly  restored.  Show  us  the  rightful 
owners  of  those  lands  which  have  been  purchased — let  them  pre- 
sent themselves.  The  ears  of  your  father  will  be  opened  to  your 
complaints,  and  if  the  lands  have  been  purchased  of  those  who  did 
not  own  them,  they  will  be  restored  to  their  rightful  owners.  I  have 
full  power  to  arrange  this  business  ;  but  if  you  would  rather  carry 
your  complaints  before  your  great  father,  the  President,  you  shall 
be  indulged.  I  will  immediately  take  means  to  send  you,  with 
those  chiefs  which  you  may  choose,  to  the  city  where  your  father 
lives.  Every  thing  necessary  shall  be  prepared  for  your  journey, 
and  means  taken  for  your  safe  return." 

After  hearing  this  speech,  the  Prophet  told  the  interpreter  that, 
as  his  brother  intended  to  pay  Governor  Harrison  a  visit  in  a  few 
weeks,  he  would  let  him  carry  the  reply  to  the  Governor's  message. 
Receiving  this  information,  Governor  Harrison  sent  a  message  to 
Tecumseh,  requesting  him  to  bring  but  a  small  body  of  his  follow- 
ers, as  it  was  inconvenient  for  him  to  receive  many;  to  which  Te- 
cumseh paid  little  or  no  regard,  and  on  the  12th  of  August,  1810, 
with  four  hundred  warriors,  all  armed  with  tomahawks,  war-clubs, 
and  "  painted  in  the  most  terrific  manner,"  he  began  to  descend  the 
Wabash  for  Vincennes.  Arriving  near  Vinccnnes,  and  encamping 
on  the  Wabash,  on  the  morning  of  the  15th,  attended  by  about  fif- 
teen or  twenty  of  his  warriors,  Tecumseh  approached  the  house  of 
the  Governor,  who,  in  company  with  the  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  several  army  officers,  a  sergeant  and  a  dozen  men,  besides 
a  large  number  of  citizens,  waited  upon  the  portico  of  his  own  house 
to  receive  the  chief  and  his  followers.* 

During  the  milder  season  of  the  year,  to  hold  a  council  other 
than  in  a  grove  or  woody  place,  with  logs  or  a  clear,  grassy  spot 
of  ground  to  set  upon,  was  to  invite  the  Indian  to  do  an  act  very 
much  to  his  distaste ;  and  to  the  invitation  to  come  forward  and  take 
seats  upon  the  portico,  he  objected,  signifying  that  it  was  not  a  fit 
place  to  hold  a  council,  and  expressed  a  desire  that  the  meeting- 
might  be  held  beneath  a  grove  of  trees  near,  which  was  readily  as- 
sented to,  and  soon  the  Governor,  with  his  attendants  was  seated  be- 
neath a  grove  of  trees  in  the  open  lawn,  before  the  house. 

*  Ellis'  Life  of  Tecuraseh. 


186  HISTOKY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

"With  a  firm  and  elastic  step,"  says  Judge  Law,*  and  "  with  a 
proud  and  somewhat  defiant  look,  he  advanced  to  the  placp  where 
the  Governor  and  those  who  had  been  invited  to  attend  the  confer- 
ance  were  sitting.  This  place  had  been  fenced  in,  with  a  view  of 
preventing  the  crowd  from  encroaching  upon  the  council  during  its 
deliberations.  As  he  stepped  forward,  he  seemed  to  scan  the  pre- 
parations which  had  been  made  for  his  reception,  particularly  the 
military  part  of 'it,  with  an  eye  of  suspicion — by  no  means,  how- 
ever, with  fear.  As  he  came  in  front  of  the  dias,  an  elevated  por- 
tion of  the  place  upon  which  the  Governor  and  the  officers  of  the 
Territory  were  seated,  the  Governor  invited  him,  through  the  inter- 
preter, to  come  forward  and  take  a  seat  with  him  and  his  counsellors, 
premising  the  invitation  by  saying:  That  it  was  the  wish  of  their 
4  GREAT  FATHER,'  the  President  of  the  United  States,  that  he  should 
do  so."  Pausing  for  a  moment,  at  the  utterance  of  these  words  by 
the  interpreter,  and  extending  his  tall  figure  to  its  greatest  height, 
he  looked  scanningly  upon  the  troops  and  then  upon  the  crowd 
about  him.  Thus,  for  a  moment,  with  keen,  piercing  eyes  fixed 
upon  Governor  Harrison,  and  then  upward  to  the  sky,  and  "  his  sin- 
ewy arm  pointing  towards  the  heaven,"  with  a  tone  and  gesture  ex- 
pressive of"  supreme  contempt  for  the  paternity  assigned  him,"  in 
a  clear,  loud,  full  voice,  which  reverberated  again  upon  the  mo- 
mentary stillness  that  his  stolid  demeanor  had  produced,  with  all 
eyes  fixed  upon  him,  he  exclaimed : 

"  My  Father  ? — The  sun  is  my  father — the  earth  is  my  mother — 
and  on  her  bosom  I  will  recline."  Having  finished,  says  Judge 
Law,  he  stretched  himself  with  his  warriors  on  the  green  sward  ; 
and  the  effect  is  said  to  have  been  electrical — for  some  moments 
there  was  a  perfect  silence  throughout  the  assembly. 

Governor  Harrison  having  now  begun  to  refer  to  the  subject  of 
the  council,  said  to  Tecumseh,  through  the  interpreter,  '•  that  he  had 
understood  he  had  complaints  to  make,  and  redress  to  ask  for  cer- 
tain wrongs  which  A#,  Tecumseh,  supposed  had  been  done  his  tribe, 
as  well  as  the  others ;  that  he  felt  disposed  to  listen  to  the  one,  and 
make  satisfaction  for  the  other,  if  it  was  proper  he  should  do  so. 
That  in  all  his  intercourse  and  negotiations  with  the  Indians,  he  had 
endeavored  to  act  justly  and  honorably  with  them,  and  believed  he 
had  done  so,  and  had  heard  of  no  complaint  of  his  conduct  until  he 
learned  that  Tecumseh  was  endeavoring  to  create  dissatisfaction 
towards  the  Government,  not  only  among  the  Shawanoes,  but 
among  the  other  tribes  dwelling  on  the  Wabash  and  Illinois ;  and 
had,  in  so  doing,  produced  a  great  deal  of  mischief  and  trouble  be- 
tween them  and  the  whites,  by  averring  that  the  tribes,  whose  land 
the  Government  had  lately  purchased,  had  no  right  ro  sell,  nor  their 
chiefs  any  authority  to  convey.  That  he,  the  Governor,  had  invited 
him  to  attend  the  Council,  with  a  view  of  learning  from  his  own 
lips,  whether  there  was  any  truth  in  the  reports  which  he  had  hoard, 

*  Judge  Law's  Address,  page  83. 


TECUMSEH'S  OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  TKEAIT  OF  FORT  WAYNE.     187 

and  to  learn  from  himself  whether  he,  or  his  tribe,  had  any  cause 
of  complaint  against  the  whites ;  and  if  so,  as  a  man  and  a  warrior, 
openly  and  boldly  to  avow  it.  That,  as  between  himself  and  as 
great  a  warrior  as  Tecumseh,  there  should  be  no  concealment — all 
should  be  done  by  them  under  a  clear  sky,  and  in  an  open  path, 
and  with  these  feelings  on  his  own  part,  he  was  glad  to  meet  him 
in  council." 

In  appearance,  Tecumseh  was  accounted  "  one  of  the  most  splen- 
did specimens  of  his  tribe — celebrated  for  their  physical  propor- 
tions and  fine  forms,  even  among  the  nations  surrounding*  the  Shaw- 
anoes.  Tall,  athletic,  and  manly,  dignified  but  graceful,  he  seemed 
the  beau  ideal  of  an  Indian  chieftain.  In  a  voice,  at  first  low,  but 
with  all  its  indistinctness,"*  Tecumseh  replied  by  "  stating,  at  length, 
his  objections  to  the  treaty  of  Fort  Wayne,  made  by  Gov.  Harrison 
in  the  previous  year;  and  in  the  course  of  of  his  speech, "says  Ben- 
jamin Drake,  "  boldly  avowed  the  principle  of  his  party  to  be,  that 
of  resistance  to  every  cession  of  land,  unless  made  by  all  the  tribes, 
who,  he  contended,  formed  but  one  nation.  He  admitted  that  he 
threatened  to  kill  the  chiefs  who  signed  the  treaty  of  Fort  Wayne  ; 
and  that  it  was  his  fixed  determination  not  to  permit  the  milage 
chiefs,  in  future,  to  manage  their  affairs,  but  to  place  the  power  with 
which  they  had  been  heretofore  invested,  in  the  hands  of  the  war- 
chiefs.  The  Americans,  he  said,  had  driven  the  Indians  from  the 
sea-coast,  and  would  soon  push  them  into  the  lakes ;  and,  while  he 
disclaimed  all  intention  of  making  war  upon  the  United  States,  he 
declared  it  to  be  his  unalterable  resolution  to  take  a  stand,  and  reso- 
lutely oppose  the  further  intrusion  of  the  whites  upon  the  Indian 
lands.  He  concluded,  by  making  a  brief  but  impassioned  recital 
of  the  various  wrongs  and  aggressions  inflicted  upon  the  Indians 
by  the  white  men,  from  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary 
war  down  to  the  period  of  that  council ;  all  of  which  was  calcula- 
ted to  arouse  and  influence  the  minds  of  such  of  his  followers  as 
were  present. 

"  The  Governor  rose  in  reply,  and  in  examining  the  right  of  Te- 
cumseh and  his  party  to  make  objections  to  the  treaty  of  Fort  Wayne, 
took  occasion  to  say,  that  the  Indians  were  not  one  nation,  having 
a  common  property  in  the  lands.  The  Miamis,  he  contended,  were 
the  real  owners  of  the  tract  on  the  Wabash,  ceded  by  the  late  treaty, 
and  the  Shawnees  had  no  right  to  interfere  in  the  case  ;  that  upon 
the  arrival  of  the  whites  on  this  continent,  they  had  found  the  Mi- 
amis  in  possession  of  this  land,  the  Shawnees  being  then  residents 
of  Georgia,  from  which  they  had  been  driven  by  the  Creeks,  and 
that  it  was  ridiculous  to  assert  that  the  red  men  constituted  but  one 
nation;  for,  if  such  had  been  the  intention  of  the  Great  Spirit,  lie 
would  not  have  put  different  tongues  in  their  heads,  but  have  taught 
them  all  to  speak  the  same  language. 

"  The  Governor  having  taken  his  seat,  the  interpreter  commenced 

*  Judge  Law's  Address,  p»ge  B5. 


188  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

explaining  the  speech  to  Tecumseh,  who,  after  listening  to  a  por- 
tion of  it,  sprung  to  his  feet,  and  began  to  speak  with  great  vehem- 
ence of  manner. 

"  The  Governor  was  surprised  at  his  violent  gestures,  but  as  he 
did  not  understand  him,  thought  he  was  making  some  explanation, 
and  suffered  his  attention  to  be  drawn  toward  YVinnemac,  a  friendly 
Indian  lying  on  the  grass  before  him,  who  was  renewing  the  prim- 
ing of  his  pistol,  which  he  had  kept  concealed  from  the  other  In- 
dians, but  in  full  view  of  the  Governor.  His  attention,  however, 
was  again  attracted  toward  Tecumseh,  by  hearing  General  Gibson, 
who  was  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Shawnee  language,  say  to 
Lieutenant  Jennings, '  Those  fellows  intend  mischief;  you  had  bet- 
ter bring  up  the  guard.'  At  that  moment,  the  followers  of  Tecum- 
seh seized  their  tomahawks  and  war-clubs,  and  sprang  upon  their 
feet,  their  eyes  turned  upon  the  Governor.  As  soon  as  he  could 
disengage  himself  from  the  arm-chair  in  which  he  sat,  he  rose,  drew 
a  small  sword  which  he  had  by  his  side,  and  stood  on  the  defensive. 
Captain  G.  K.  Floyd,  of  the  army,  who  stood  near  him,  drew  a  dirk, 
and  the  chief  Winnemac  cocked  his  pistol.  The  citizens  present 
were  more  numerous  than  the  Indians,  but  were  unarmed;  some  of 
them  procured  clubs  and  brick-bats,  and  also  stood  on  the  defen- 
sive. The  Kev.  Mr.  Winans,  of  the  Methodist  church,  ran  to  the 
Governor's  house,  got  a  gun,  and  posted  himself  at  the  door  to  de- 
fend the  family.  During  this  singular  scene,  no  one  spoke,  until 
the  guard  came  running  up,  and  appearing  to  be  in  the  act  of  fir- 
ing, the  Governor  ordered  them  not  to  do  so.  He  then  demanded 
of  the  interpreter  an  explanation  of  what  had  happened,  who  re- 
plied that  Tecumseh  had  interrupted  him,  declaring  that  all  the 
Governor  had  said  was  false ;  and  that  he  and  the  Seventeen  Fires 
had  cheated  and  imposed  on  the  Indians. 

"  The  Governor  then  told  Tecumseh  that  he  was  a  bad  man,  and 
that  he  would  hold  no  further  communication  with  him ;  that  as  he 
had  come  to  Vincennes  under  the  protection  of  a  council-fire,  he 
might  return  in  safety,  but  he  must  immediately  leave  the  village. 
Here  the  council  terminated.  During  the  night,  two  companies  of 
militia  were  brought  in  from  the  country,  and  that  belonging  to  the 
town  was  also  embodied.  Next  morning  Tecumseh  requsted  the 
Governor  to  afford  him  an  opportunity  of  explaining  his  conduct  on 
the  previous  day — declaring  that  he  did  not  intend  to  attack  the 
Governor,  and  that  he  had  acted  under  the  advice  of  some  of  the 
white  people.  The  Governor  consented  to  have  another  interview, 
it  being  understood  that  each  party  should  have  the  same  armed 
force  as  on  the  previous  day.  On  this  occasion  the  deportment  of 
Tecumseh  was  respectful  and  dignified.  He  again  denied  having 
any  intention  to  make  an  attack  upon  the  Governor,  and  declared 
that  he  had  been  stimulated  to  the  course  he  had  taken,  by  two 
white  men,  who  assured  him  that  one  half  the  citizens  were  op- 
posed to  the  Governor,  and  willing  to  restore  the  land  in  question  ; 


CONFERENCE  AT  VINCENNES.  189 

that  the  Governor  would  soon  be  put  out  of  office,  and  a  good  man 
sent  to  fill  his  place,  who  would  give  up  the  land  to  the  Indians. 
When  asked  by  the  Governor  whether  he  intended  to  resist  the  sur- 
vey  of  these  lands,  Tecumseh  replied  that  he  and  his  followers  were 
resolutely  determined  to  insist  upon  the  old  boundary.  When  he 
had  taken  his  seat,  chiefs  from  the  Wyandots,  Kickapoos,  Pottawat- 
amies,  Ottawas  and  Winuebagoes,  spoke  in  succession,  and  dis- 
tinctly avowed  that  they  had  entered  into  the  Shawnee  confederacy, 
and  were  determined  to  support  the  principles  laid  down  by  their 
leader.  The  Governor,  in  conclusion,  stated  that  he  would  make 
known  to  the  President  the  claims  of  Tecumseh  and  his  party,  to  the 
land  in  question;  but  that  he  was  satisfied  the  Government  would 
never  admit  that  the  lands  on  the  Wabash  were  the  property  of  any 
other  tribes  than  those  who  occupied  them  when  the  white  people 
first  arrived  in  America;  and,  as  the  title  to  these  lands  had  been 
derived  by  purchase  from  those  tribes,  he  might  rest  assured  that 
the  right  of  the  United  States  would  be  sustained  by  the  sword. 
Here  the  council  adjourned. 

u  On  the  following  day,  Governor  Harrison  visited  Tecumseh  in 
his  camp,  attended  only  by  the  interpreter,  and  was  politely  re- 
ceived. Along  conversation  ensued,  in  which  Tecumseh  again  de- 
clared that  his  intentions  were  really  such  as  he  had  avowed  them 
to  be  in  the  council;  that  the  policy  which  the  United  States  pur- 
sued, of  purchasing  land  from  the  Indians,  he  viewed  as  mighty 
water,  ready  to  overflow  his  people ;  and  that  the  confederacy  which 
he  was  forming  among  the  tribes  to  prevent  any  individual  tribe 
from  selling  without  the  consent  of  the  others,  was  the  dam  he  was 
erecting  to  resist  this  mighty  water.  He  stated  further,  that  he 
should  be  reluctantly  drawn  into  war  with  the  United  States  ;  and 
that  if  he,  the  Governor,  would  induce  the  President  to  give  up  the 
lands  lately  purchased,  and  agree  never  to  make  another  treaty 
without  the  consent  of  all  the  tribes,  he  would  be  their  faithful  ally, 
and  assist  them  in  the  war,  which  he  knew  was  about  to  take  place 
with  England  ;  that  he  preferred  being  the  ally  of  the  Seventeen 
Fires,  but  if  they  did  not  comply  with  his  request,  he  would  be  com- 
pelled to  unite  with  the  British.  The  Governor  replied,  that  he 
would  make  known  his  views  to  the  President,  but  that  there  was 
no  probability  of  its  being  agreed  to.  '  Well,'  said  Tecumseh,  '  as 
the  great  chief  is  to  determine  the  matter,  I  hope  the  Great  Spirit 
will  put  sense  enough  into  his  head  to  induce  him  to  give  up  this 
land ;  it  is  true,  he  is  so  far  off,  he  will  not  be  injured  by  the  war ; 
he  may  sit  still  in  his  town  and  drink  his  wine,  while  you  and  I  will 
have  to  fight  it  out.'  This  prophecy,  it  will  be  seen,  was  literally 
fulfilled ;  and  the  great  chieftain  who  uttered  it,  attested  that  fulfill- 
ment with  his  blood.  The  governor,  in  conclusion,  proposed  to  Te- 
cumseh, that  in  the  event  of  hostilities  between  the  Indians  and  the 
United  States,  he  should  use  his  influence  to  put  an  end  to  the  cruel 
mode  of  warfare  which  the  Indians  were  accustomed  to  wage  upon 


190  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYHE. 

women  and  children,  or  upon  prisoners.  To  this  he  cheerfully  as- 
sented; and  it  is  due  to  the  memory  of  Teciimseh  to  add,  that  he 
faithfully  kept  his  promise  down  to  the  period  of  his  death." 

Not  long  subsequent  to  the  termination  of  this  council,  a  Winne- 
bago  chief,  who  had  been  employed  by  Governor  Harrison  to  watch 
the  proceedings  of  Tecumseh,  brought  word  to  Gov.  Harrison  that 
the  former  was  sending  to  each  of  the  tribes  a  large  wampum  belt, 
with  a  view  of  uniting  them  in  one  great  confederation;  and  that, 
upon  a  return  of  the  belt,  he  saw  a  British  agent  fairly  dance  with 
joy — adding,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  that  he  and  all  the  village  chiefs 
had  been  deprived  of  their  power,  and  that  the  control  of  every- 
thing was  in  the  hands  of  the  warriors,  who  were  greatly  opposed 
to  the  United  States. 

Speaking  of  the  Prophet,  in  his  address  to  the  legislature  of  this 
year,  Gov.  Harrison  said  :  "  His  character  as  a  Prophet  would  not, 
however,  have  given  him  any  very  dangerous  influence,  if  he  had 
not  been  assisted  by  the  intrigues  and  advice  of  foreign  agents,  and 
otiier  disaffected  persons,  who  have  for  many  years  omitted  no  op- 
portunity of  counteracting  the  measures  of  the  government  with 
regard  to  the  Indians,  and  filling  their  naturally  jealous  minds  wirh 
suspicious  of  the  justice  and  integrity  of  our  views  against  them." 

During  the  autumn  of  1 810,  a  Kickapoo  chief  visited  Governor 
Harrison,  and  assured  him  that  the  peaceful  assurances  of  the 
Prophet  and  Tecumseh  were  merely  to  cover  up  their  real  inten- 
tions against  the  United  States ;  and  about  the  same  period,  the 
Governor  of  Missouri  sent  word  that  the  Sac  Indians  had  allied 
themselves  to  the  Tecumseh  confederacy;  that  Tecumseh  himself 
was  then  doing  all  in  his  power  to  induce  the  tribes  west  of  the 
Mississippi  to  join  him  ;  to  which  were  added  the  reports  of  differ- 
ent Indian  agents,  who  were  generally  of  opinion  that  the  period 
for  a  war  with  the  Indians  would  soon  arrive.  And  thus  passed  the 
year  1810. 

Early  in  1811,  as  a  part  of  the  annuity  to  the  Indians,  Governor 
Harrison  sent  a  boat  load  of  salt  up  the  Wabash,  a  portion  of  which 
was  to  be  given  to  the  Prophet  for  the  Shawanoes  and  Kickapoos ; 
but,  upon  the  arrival  of  the  boat  at  the  point  where  the  Prophet  had 
his  lodges,  he  made  bold  to  seize  the  entire  cargo,  alleging  for  so 
doing  that  he  had  two  thousand  men  to  ieed,  who  had  been  with- 
out that  commodity  for  two  years.  Upon  the  receipt  of  this  pro- 
ceedure,  Governor  Harrison  felt  fully  justified  in  demanding  imme- 
diate aid  from  the  government,  and  accordingly  made  application 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  to  have  Colonel  Boyd's  regiment,  then  at 
Pittsburg,  sent  immediately  to  him,  for  the  better  safety  of  Vin- 
cennes,  requesting,  at  the  same  time,  to  receive  authority  to  act  on 
the  offensive  as  soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  Indians  were  arrayed 
in  actual  hostility  against  the  United  States.  The  Governor's  ap- 
prehensions were  well  founded,  and  it  soon  became  an  ackuwol- 
edged  fact,  that  Vincennes  was  to  be  the  first  point  of  attack.  The 


SECOND  COUNCIL  WITH  TECUMSEH  AT  VINCENNES.  191 

place  was  most  accessible,  and  Tecumseh  was  fully  aware  of  its 
situation.  He  could  have  made  a  descent  upon  it  in  a  very  short 
space  of  time,  and  then  retreated  into  the  unexplored  country  be- 
hind it,  "  where  it  would  have  been  next  to  impossible  for  any  cav- 
alry to  have  penetrated  "  at  that  period.  And  so  earnest  was  Gov- 
ernor Harrison  upon  the  subject,  that  he  notified  the  Secretary  of 
War,  that,  should  troops  not  be  immediately  sent  to  his  relief,  he 
would  at  once  take  the  matter  in  his  own  hands. 

Accompanied  by  three  hundred  warriors,*  on  the  27th  of  July  of 
this  year,  Tecumseh  again  visited  Viricennes ;  and  on  the  30th  of 
this  month,  in  an  arbor  near,  attended  by  about  two  hundred  of  his 
warriors,  another  council  was  held.  Opening  the  occasion  by  pre- 
senting the  fact  of  several  murders  having  been  committed  by  In- 
dians in  Illinois,  Governor  Harrison  expressed  a  desire  that  Tecum- 
seh should  pay  a  visit  to  the  President  with  a  view  of  laying  before 
him  what  complaints  he  had  to  offer,  assuring  him  that  he  should 
receive  the  fullest  justice  at  the  chief  magistrate's  hands  ;  and  con- 
cluded by  demanding  an  explanation  of  the  conduct  of  the  Prophet 
in  the  seizure  of  the  salt  sent  up  the  Wabash  sometime  before,  to 
be  devided  among  the  tribes.  Replying  to  the  latter,  Tecumseh 
remarked  that  he  was  not  at  home  at  the  time  of  the  seizure  of  the 
salt,  and  said  nothing  further  than,  that  Governor  Harrison  seemed 
very  hard  to  please,  he  having  complained  sometime  before  that 
they  refused  to  take  the  salt,  and  that  now  he  was  not  pleased  be- 
cause they  had  taken  it.  With  but  little  further  business  of  import- 
ance, the  council  adjourned  to  meet  again  on  the  following  day. 

Reassembling,  says  the  account^  on  the  afternoon  of  the  next 
day,  the  council  was  continued  far  into  the  night.  There  being  a  full 
moon  and  a  clear  sky,  the  members  were  distinctly  revealed  to 
each  other.  It  must  have  been  a  picturesque  scene — those  one 
hundred  and  seventy  warriors  seated  in  grim  silence,  listening, 
spell-bound,  to  the  eloquence  of  the  wonderful  Tecumseh,  occasion- 
ally signifying  their  approbation  by  their  odd  grunts ;  or,  taking  in 
the  words  of  the  noble  Harrison,  as  he  strove  by  every  means  at 
his  command  to  convince  them  that  what  he  urged  was  for  their 
own  welfare  and  interest. 

Still  manifesting  his  well  known  self-will  and  independence,  Te- 
cumseh cooly  admitted  that  he  was  still  endeavoring  to  establish  a 
union  of  the  different  tribes.  And  "why  do  you  complain?"  he 
enquired  ;  "  hav'nt  you  formed  a  confederacy  of  your  different  fires? 
We  have  raised  no  voice  against  that,  and  what  right  have  you  to 
prevent  us  doing  the  same  ?  So  soon  as  the  council  ends,  I  shall 
go  south  and  seek  to  bring  the  Creeks  and  Choctaws  into  our  con- 
federacy ;"  repeating  that  hiss  designs  were  peaceful,  and  that  the 
whiles  were  causelessly  alarmed  ;  while  his  reply  regard  ing  the  Illi- 
nois murders  is  said  to  have  been  not  only  "justified  by  facts,"  but 

*  Ellis'  Life  of  Tecumsc-h,  page  48. 

t  As  principally  presented  by  JWjnTnin  Drake. 


192  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

was  "cutting  and  pointed."  Governor  Harrison  had  previously 
stated,  in  a  letter  to  the  war  department,  "  that  it  was  impossible,  in 
many  instances,  for  the  Indians  to  receive  justice.  Were  one  of 
their  number  murdered  by  a  white  man,  no  jury  of  settlers  would 
convict  him,  and,  many  of  the  latter  seemed  to  think  the  savage 
fit  for  nothing  but  insults  and  kicks."  "As  to  the  murderers,  they 
are  not  in  my  town,"  was  substantially  Tecumseh's  response;  "  and 
if  they  were,  I  would  not  give  them  up.  We  have  set  the  whites 
an  example  of  forgiving  injuries,  which  they  should  follow;"  and 
added  that  he  wished  no  settlers  to  come  upon  the  new  purchase, 
near  Tippecanoe  before  his  return  from  the  south,  as  the  Indians 
would  require  it  as  a  hunting  ground,  and  that  if  they  found  cattle 
or  hogs  there,  they  would  be  apt  to  treat  them  as  lawful  game.* 

In  a  brief  but  earnest  response,  Governor  Harrison  said  "the 
moon  above  them  should  fall  to  the  earth  before  the  President 
would  allow  his  people  to  be  massacred  with  impunity ;  and  that 
no  land  would  be  yielded  which  had  been  honorably  and  fairly 
bought  of  the  Indians."  And  here  the  council  terminated,  from 
whence,  as  he  had  stated,  with  great  pomp,  accompanied  by  some 
twenty  of  his  warriors,  Tecumseh  was  soon  rowing  his  canoe  south- 
ward down  the  Ohio  to  arouse  the  Creeks  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
whites. 

Of  his  efforts  and  the  result  of  his  mission  among  the  Creeks,  the 
following  graphic  accountf  will  be  read  with  no  little  degree  of  in- 
terest. The  Shawanoe  chieftain  and  his  followers  had  meet  their 
friends,  the  Creeks  of  the  south,  and  a  council  was  at  once  proposed. 

"Tecumseh  led,  the  warriors  followed,  one  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
other.  The  Creeks,  in  dense  masses,  stood  on  one  side  of  the  path, 
but  the  Shawanoes  noticed  no  one ;  they  marched  into  the  center  of 
the  square,  and  then  turned  to  the  left.  At  each  angle  of  the 
square,  Tecumseh  took  from  his  pouch  some  tobacco  and  sumach, 
and  dropped  on  the  ground  ;  his  warriors  performed  the  same  cere- 
mony. This  they  repeated  three  times  as  they  marched  around  the 
square.  Then  they  approached  the  flag-pole  in  the  center,  circled 
around  it  three  times,  and  facing  the  north,  threw  tobacco  and  su- 
mach on  a  small  fire,  burning,  as  usual,  near  the  base  of  the  pole. 
On  this  they  emptied  their  pouches.  They  then  marched  in  the 
same  order  to  the  council,  or  king's  house,  (as  it  was  termed  in  an- 
cient times,)  and  drew  up  before  it.  The  Big  Warrior  and  leading 
men  were  sitting  there.  The  Shawnee  chief  sounded  his  war-whoop 
— a  most  diabolical  yell — and  each  of  his  followers  responded.  Te- 
cumseh then  presented  to  the  Big  Warrior  a  wampum-belt  of  five 
different  colored  strands,  which  the  Creek  chief  handed  to  his  war- 
riors, and  it  passed  down  the  line.  The  Shawiiee's  pipe  was  then 
produced:  it  was  large,  long,  and  profusely  decorated  with  shells,- 
beads,  and  painted  eagle  and  porcupine-quills.  It  was  lighted  from 

*  Ellis'  Life  of  /ecumseh,  pagei  49  :md  50. 

fFvon)  '•' Claiborne's  Life  ami  Times  of  Gene,  a!  !i3um  Dale." 


TECUMSEH  AMONG  THE  CREEK  INDIANS  OF  THE  SOUTH.        193 

the  fire  in  the  center,  and  slowly  passed  from  the  Big  Warrior  along 
the  line. 

"  All  this  time  not  a  word  had  been  uttered,  every  thing  was  as  still  as 
death ;  even  the  winds  slept,  and  there  was  only  the  gentle-falling  leaves. 
At  length  Tecumseh  spoke,  at  first  slowly  and  in  sonorous  tones,  but 
he  grew  impassioned  and  the  words  fell  in  avalanches  from  his  lips, 
his  eye  burned  with  supernatural  luster,  and  his  whole  frame  trembled 
with  emotion  ;  his  voice  resounded  over  the  multitude — now  sinking 
in  low  and  musical  whispers,  now  rising  to  its  highest  key,  hurling 
out  his  words  like  a  succession  of  thunderbolts.  His  countenance 
varied  with  his  speech  ;  its  prevalent  expression  was  a  sneer  of  hatred 
and  defiance ;  sometimes  a  murderous  smile;  for  a  brief  interval  a  sen- 
timent of  profound  sorrow  pervaded  it,  at  the  close  of  a  look  of  con- 
centrated vengeance,  such,  I  suppose,  as  distinguishes  the  arch-enemy 
of  mankind. 

"  I  have  heard  many  great  orators,  but  I  never  saw  one  with  the 
vocal  powers  of  Tecumseh,  or  the  same  command  of  the  face.  Had 
I  been  deaf,  the  play  of  his  countenance  would  have  told  me  what  he 
said.  Its  effect  on  that  wild,  superstitious,  untutored,  and  war-like  as- 
semblage, may  be  conceived ;  not  a  word  was  said,  but  stern  warriors, 
*  the  stoics  of  the  Avoods,'  shook  with  emotion,  and  a  thousand  toma- 
hawks were  brandished  in  the  air.  Even  Big  Warrior,  who  had  been 
true  to  the  whites,  and  remained  faithful  during  the  war,  was,  for  the 
moment,  visibly  affected,  and  more  than  once  I  saw  his  huge  hand 
clutch  spasmodically  the  handle  of  his' knife.  And  this'was  the  effect 
of  his  delivery — for,  though  the  mother  of  Tecumseh  was  a  Creek,  and 
he  was  familiar  with  the  language,  he  spoke  in  the  northern  dialect, 
and  it  was  afterward  interpreted  by  an  Indian  linguist  to  the  assembly. 
His  speech  has  been  reported ;  but  no  one  has  done,  or  can  do  it  jus- 
tice. I  think  I  can  repeat  the  substance  of  what  he  said,  and,  indeed, 
his  very  words : 

"  '  In  defiance  of  the  white  men  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  I  have  trav- 
eled through  their  settlements — once  our  favorite  hunting-grounds. 
No  war-whoop  was  sounded,  but  there  is  blood  upon  our  knives.  The 
pale-faces  felt  the  blow,  but  knew  not  from  whence  it  came.  Ac- 
cursed be  the  race  that  has  seized  on  our  country,  and  made  women 
of  our  warriors.  Our  fathers,  from  their  tombs,  reproach  us  as  slaves 
and  cowards.  I  hear  them  now  in  the  wailing  winds.  The  Muscogee 
were  once  a  mighty  people.  The  Georgians  trembled  at  our  war- 
whoop  ;  and  the  maidens  of  my  tribe,  in  the  distant  lakes,  sung  the 
prowess  of  your  warriors,  and  sighed  for  their  embraces.  Now,  your 
very  blood  is  white,  your  tomahawks  have  no  edges,  your  bows  and 
arrows  were  buried  with  your  fathers.  0  Muscogees,  brethren  of  my 
mother  !  brush  from  your  eyelids  the  sleep  of  slavery  ;  once  more 
strike  for  vengeance — once  more  for  your  country.  The  spirits  of 
the  mighty  dead  complain.  The  tears  drop  from  the  skies.  Let  the 
white  race  perish !  They  seize  your  land,  they  corrupt  your  women, 

(13) 


194  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYXE. 

they  trample  on  your  dead  !  Back  !  -whence  they  came,  upon  a  trail 
of  blood,  they  must  be  driven !  Back  !  back — ay,  into  the  great 
water  whose  accursed  waves  brought  them  to  our  shores  !  Burn  their 
dwellings !  Destroy  their  stock  !  Slay  their  wives  and  children  !  The 
red-man  owns  the  country,  and  the  pale-face  must  never  enjoy  it ! 
War  now  !  War  forever  !  War  upon  the  living  !  War  upon  the 
dead  !  Dig  their  very  corpses  from  the  graves  !  Our  country  must 
give  no  rest  to  a  white  man's  bines.  All  the  tribes  of  the  North  are 
dancing  the  war-dance.  Two  mighty  warriors  across  the  seas  will 
send  us  arms. 

"  '  Tecumseh  will  soon  return  to  his  country.  My  prophets  shall 
tarry  with  you.  They  will  stand  between  you  and  your  enemies. 
When  the  white  man  approaches  you  the  earth  shall  swallow  him  up. 
Soon  shall  you  see  my  arm  of  fire  stretched  athwart  the  sky.  I  will 
stamp  my  foot  at  Tippecanoe,*  and  the  very  earth  shall  shake/  " 

"  Incredible  as  it  may  seem,"'  says  Ellis,  in  his  life  of  Tecumseh,  "  the 
threat  of  Tecumseh,  embodied  in  the  last  sentence  of  the  foregoing 
speech,  was  fulfilled  to  the  very  letter.  It  was  uttered  by  the  chief 
when  he  saw  the  great  reluctance  of  the  Big  Warrior  and  the  Creeks 
to  join  him  ;  and  the  confidence  with  which  he  made  the  threat  had  its 
effect  upon  them." 

Moving  northward  again,  Tecumseh  and  his  followers,  came  by 
way  of  Missouri,  rallied  the  tribes  on  the  Des  Moines,  crossed  the  head- 
waters of  the  Illinois,  and  from  thence  to  the  Wabash  and  to  Tip- 
pecanoe ;  and  it  was  about  this  time  that  a  heavy  earthquake  occurred. 

Before  quitting  the  mouth  of  the  Tippecanoe  river,  Tecumseh  had 
charged  his  brother,  the  Prophet,  to  be  most  careful  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  peace  with  the  whites  during  his  absence,  and  especially  until 
his  arrangements  were  fully  matured  for  the  confederation  of  the  tribes, 
north  and  south,  as  then  advancing  ;  to  which  the  prophet  gave  his 
assent,  and  Tecumseh  left  him  with  the  full  belief  that  he  would  be 
true  to  his  word. 

But  a  short  time  elapsed,  however,  before  the  whites  of  the  territory 
began  to  feel  an  increased  alarm.  Tecumseh's  movement  southward 
had  spread  among  them,  and  many  murders  by  the  Indians  in  the  re- 
gion of  the  Prophet's  town,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tippecanoe,  and  other 
points,  were  now  becoming  more  frequent,  and  it  was  evident  that 
the  Prophet  was  not  wholly  a  stranger  to  these  depredations,  notwith- 
standing his  promise  to  his  brother,  Tecumseh,  to  remain  quiet  and 
peacable  with  the  whites  during  his  absence. 

In  the  meantime,  the  regiment  under  Col.  Boyd,  as  desired  by  Gov. 
Harrison,  had  reached  Vincennes,  and  the  Governor  was  likewise  or- 
dered to  add  to  this  body  a  corps  of  militia,  and  to  take  immediate 
measures  for  the  defence  of  the  citizens,  and,  as  a  last  resort,  to  re- 
move the  Prophet  and  his  followers  themselves. f  And  the  Governor 

*Qtber  writers  say  that  Detroit  was  mentioned  in  place  of  Tippeeanoe,  and  in  giving 
tho  e^olijniUions  of  the  astonished  Indians,  we  have  put  that  word  in  their  inouth,  in 
with  the  authority  quoted.— Life  of  Tecumseh.  fM'Afee. 


THE  PROPHET'S  DETERMINATION.  195 

was  soon  joined  by  a  number  of  additional  volunteers  from  Kentucky, 
many  of  whom  were  men  of  high  standing  as  military,  civil,  and  liter- 
ary gentlemen. 

Governor  Harrison  now  began  to  take  active  measures  to  bring 
matters  to  a  crisis,  and  wrote  to  his  neighboring  governors  of  Missouri 
and  Illinois,  asking  their  aid  in  an  effort  still  to  persuade  the  Indians 
to  evade  a  recourse  to  arms ;  and  also  charged  the  Indian  agents  to  do 
what  they  could  in  bringing  the  Indians  to  a  sense  of  reason  in  the 
north ;  at  the  same  time  sending  special  messages  to  the  different  tribes, 
demanding  that  all  who  had  been  concerned  in  the  recent  murders  of 
settlers,  be  at  once  given  up,  and  from  the  Miamies  a  full  disavowal  of 
all  alliance  or  connection  with  the  Prophet;  and  concluded,  says 
Drake,  by  saying  that  the  United  States,  having  manifested,  through  a 
series  of  years,  the  utmost  justice  and  generosity  toward  their  Indian 
neighbors,  and  having  not  only  fulfilled  the  engagements  which  they 
entered  into  with  them,  but  had  spent  considerable  sums  to  civilize 
them  and  promote  their  happiness — that  if,  under  these  circumstances, 
any  tribe  should  dare  to  raise  the  tomahawk  against  their  fathers,  they 
need  not  expect  the  same  lenity  that  had  been  shown  them  at  the  close 
of  the  former  war  ;  but  that  they  would  either  be  exterminated,  or  driven 
beyond  the  Mississippi. 

In  reply  to  this,  the  Prophet  assured  Gov.  Harrison  that  all  his 
demands  should  be  regarded,  still  insisting  that  his  purposes  were 
peaceable,  though  this  response  of  the  Prophet  had  hardly  reached  the 
hands  of  the  governor,  before  he  also  received  intelligence  that  a  par- 
ty of  whites  had  been  fired  upon  when  in  pursuit  of  some  horses 
stolen  by  the  Indians. 

Gov.  Harrison  was  now  the  more  determined  in  his  course,  and  the 
Prophet  had  already  sent,  upon  learning  of  the  Governor's  course  of 
action,  word  to  the  Delaware  chiefs,  inquiring  as  to  what  part  they 
intended  to  play  in  the  coming  struggle — as  to  himself,  it  was  his  pur- 
pose not  to  lay  down  the  hatchet  until  he  -was  either  killed  or  the 
grievances  he  complained  of  were  repaired.  In  response  to  this,  the 
Delaware  chiefs  at  once  set  out  for  the  Prophet's  town,  whither,  upon 
their  arrival,  they  used  strong  efforts  to  dissuade  him  from  opening 
any  hostilities  with  the  United  States.  But  they  received  only  rebukes 
and  insults  for  their  efforts  and  advice  ;  and  finding  it  useless  to  tarry 
longer  in  their  council  with  the  Prophet,  the  Delaware  chiefs,  whose 
tribes  had  long  been  most  friendly  to  the  United  States,  left  the 
Prophet's  town,  and  made  their  way  to  the  camp  of  Gov.  Harrison, 
and  at  once  informed  him  of  the  treatment  they  had  received  at  the 
hands  of  the  Prophet. 

The  Governor  had  already  begun  his  preparations  for  a  march  upon 
the  Prophet's  town ;  and  toward  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  Octo- 
ber, with  some  eight  hundred  men,  embracing  the  Fourth  U.  S.  regi- 
ment, commanded  by  the  gallant  Miller,  moved  forward  toward  the 
mouth  of  the  Tippecanoe  river,  to  bring  the  Prophet  and  his  followers 


196  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

to  terms  or  battle.  Before  quitting  his  camp,  however,  on  the  29th, 
he  sent  twenty-four  Miami  chiefs  forward  to  the  Prophet,  upon  a  simi- 
lar errand  to  that  for  which  the  Delawares  had  visited  him  ;  but  not 
having  returned  as  he  had  expected,  he  concluded  they  had  joined  the 
Prophet's  forces.  Accordingly,  on  the  6th  of  November,  at  the  head 
of  about  one  thousand  troops,  Gov.  Harrison  took  up  his  line  of  march 
for  Tipp«canoe.  Desirous  still  to  know  whether  the  Prophet  would 
come  to  terms,  the  Governor,  when  within  a  short  distance  ot  the  town, 
sent  forward  a  captain  and  interpreter  to  learn  what  course  the  Proph- 
et would  pursue.  But  the  Indians,  on  seeing  these,  only  endeavored 
to  take  them  prisoners,  and  they  found  it  difficult  to  make  their  es- 
cape; and  one  of  the  sentinels  of  the  army  had  been  shot  by  the  In- 
dians. The  Governor  now  determined  to  treat  the  Prophet  and  his 
followers  as  enemies,  and  again  resumed  his  march  upon  them.  But 
before  he  had  gained  the  village,  the  army  was  met  by  a  deputation 
from  the  Prophet,  enquiring  for  what  purpose  they  were  thus  advanc- 
ing upon  the  town  ;  insisting  that  they  were  anxious  for  peace,  and 
that  they  had  sent  messages  by  the  Miami  and  the  Pottawattamie 
chiefs,  stating  to  the  Governor  this  desire.*  At  this  a  suspension  of 
hostilities  was  agreed  upon,  and  arrangements  for  a  meeting  submitted 
to  take  place  the  following  day,  the  Governor  telling  them  that  he 
would  move  on  with  the  army  to  the  Wabash,  and  take  up  his  encamp- 
ment for  the  night.  Having  found  a  suitable  place .  for  rendezvous, 
near  a  creek,  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  to  the  north  of  the  town, 
and  made  all  necessary  arrangement  for  action,  should  an  attack  be 
made,  the  army  took  up  its  quarters  for  the  night. 

In  approaching  the  town,  the  Indians,  not  being  aware  of  the  pur- 
poses of  the  commanding  officers  of  the  army  to  find  a  suitable  place 
for  encampment,  ran  out  and  cried  to  the  advanced  corps  to  halt,  but 
the  governor  riding  up,  assured  the  Indians  that  his  purpose  was  not 
to  attack  them,  and,  in  response  to  questions,  as  to  a  favorable  place 
for  encampment,  told  the  officers  of  a  suitable  one  upon  the  creek  they 
had,  but  a  little  time  before,  crossed,  which  point  was  soon  after  chosen 
for  the  encampment  of  the  army. 

The  night  proved  dark  •  and  cloudy.  The  moon  rose  late,  and  a 
drizzling  rain  fell.  Many  of  the  men  had  anticipated  a  battle,  and 
were  not  much  pleased  that  they  had  not  been  permitted  to  engage  the 
Indians  in  a  fight,  and  were  fearful  that  they  might  have  to  return 
without  a  "  brush '"'  with  them  ;  and,  accordingly,  had  but  little  antici- 
pation of  an  attack  from  them,  although  Colonel  Daveiss  had  been 
heard  to  say  that  he  had  no  doubt  that  an  attack  would  be  made  be- 
fore morning.f  And  true  enough, — according  to  his  habit,  Governor 
Harrison  being  astir,  getting  his  men  under  arms, — about  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  it  was  discovered  and  made  known  that  the  Indians 
had  stealthily  "  crept  so  near  the  sentries  as  to  hear  them  challenge 

*The  Miami  chiefs,  in  returning  to  the  Governor,  from  their  mission  to  the  Prophet,  had 
started  on  their  return  by  way  vf  the  south  sids  of  the  Wabash,  and  had  accordingly  lost 
sight  01  ..ue  army.  fM'Afee. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  TIPPECANOE.  107 

when  relieved  ;  "  their  aim  being  to  rush  upon  the  sentries  before  they 
could  fire.  But  an  Indian  being  observed  by  one  of  the  guards,  as  the 
former  crept  through  the  grass,  the  latter  fired  upon  the  Indian,  which 
was  immediately  followed  by  one  of  their  fierce  yells,  and  then  a  des- 
perate charge  upon  the  left  flank  of  the  encampment,  which  caused  the 
guards  to  give  way.  The  army  was  now  all  alive  with  excitement, 
but  the  men  generally  stood  their  ground  and  fought  most  bravely,  and 
"  the  battle  was  soon  maintained  on  all  sides  with  desperate  valor.  The 
Indians  advanced  and  retreated  by  a  rattling  noise  made  with  deer- 
hoofs,"  and  who  also  fought  with  great  energy,  as  if  "  determined  on 
victory  or  death."  The  Prophet  had  told  them  the  bullets  of  the 
white  men  could  not  hurt  them ;  that  the  Great  Spirit  would  give  them 
light,  while  the  efforts  of  the  army  of  the  Americans  would  be  "  ren- 
dered unavailing,"  and  "  involved  in  thick  darkness  :  "  ^  and  taking 
his  position  upon  an  eminence  near,  secure  from  the  bullets  whizzing 
in  all  directions,  he  employed  his  time  in  singing  a  war-song,  and  urg- 
ing his  followers  "  to  fight  on,"  that  all  would  soon  be  as  he  had  told 
them — singing  the  louder  with  each  assuranee.t 

Soon  after  daylight,  the  Indians  were  put  to  flight  in  different  direc- 
tions, and  the  battle  was  ended — the  power  of  the  Prophet  was  broken, 
and  the  plans  of  Tecumseh  forever  frustrated  and  destroyed. 

The  force  of  the  Indians  was  estimated  at  from  six  hundred  to  one 
thousand ;  whlie  their  killed  was  greater  than  ever  known  before.  "  It's 
certain,"  says  M'Afee,  "  that  ro  victory  was  ever  before  obtained  over 
the  northern  Indians,  where  the  numbers  were  anything  like  equal." 
It  was  "  their  custom,"  continues  he,  "  always  to  avoid  a  close  action, 
and  from  their  dexterity  in  hiding  themselves,  but  few  of -them  could 
be  killed,  even  when  they  are  pouring  destruction  into  the  ranks  of 
their  enemies.  It  is  believed  that  there  were  not  ten  of  them  killed 
at  St.  Glair's  defeat,  a,nd  still  fewer  at  Braddock's.  At  Tippecanoe, 
they  rushed  up  to  the  bayonets  of  our  men,  and,  in  one  instance,  re- 
lated by  Captain  Snelling,  an  Indian  adroitly  put  the  bayonet  of  a 
soldier  aside,  and  clove  his  head  with  his  war-club,  an  instrument  on 
which  there  is  fixed  a  triangular  piece  of  iron,  broad  enough  to  pro- 
ject several  inches  from  the  wood.  Their  conduct,  on  this  occasion," 
continues  M'Afee,  "  so  different  from  what  it  usually  is.  was  attributed 
to  the  confidence  of  sucocess  with  which  their  Prophet  had  inspired 
them,  and  to  the  distinguished  bravery  of  the  Winnebago  warriors." 
The  loss  of  the  Americans  was  sixty  killed,  and  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  wounded ;  among  the  killed  was  the  distinguished  Jo  Daveiss, 
of  Kentucky.;];  The  Indians  had  not  determined  to  attack  the  j  camp 

*M'Afcc. 

•fAn  uncle  of  John  P.  Hedges,  Esq.,  of  our  city,  who  was  in  the  engagement,  and  who 
Was  also  badly  wounded,  avers  that  the  Indian.--,  under  the  inspiration  and  assurance-:"  of 
the  Prophet,  "  went  in,"  "  catting  and  slashing  "  most  fearlessly  and  indifferently  ;  but 
that  they  readily  lost  faith  in  him  wheii  they  saw  each-  other  falling,  pierced  by  tho 
musket  and  rifle  balls  of  the  white  men. 

JSays  a  note  in  Ellis'  life  of  Tecurusch:  "  Jo  Daveiss  was,  in  many  respects,"  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  mou  of  his  time.  As  a  lawyer  he  had  few  equals — being  con~iilc; ••.••! 
the  father  of  the  Kentucky  bar.  Ho  was  very  singular  in  his  habits,  traveling  his  circuit 


198  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

until  after  night-fall.  Their  original  plan  was  to  meet  the  Governor 
in  council  the  next  day,  and  then  for  two  Wiunebagoe  chiefs,  "  who 
had  devoted  themselves  to  certain  death,  to  accomplish  their  design," 
were  to  loiter  about  the  camp  after  the  council  had  broken  up,  and, 
killing  the  Governor,  a  war-whoop  from  them  was  to  be  the  signal  of  a 
general  attack." 

The  Indians  about  the  W abash,  after  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  be- 
came very  quiet,  and  most  of  them  returned  to  their  homes  and  villages. 

Among  the  tribes  engaged  in  this  conflict,  were  the  Shawarioes, 
Pottawattamies,  Winnebagoes,  Kickapoos,  &c.  After  the  burial  of  the 
dead,  and  caring  for  the  wounded,  the  army  began  its  return  march 
on  the  9th  of  November ;  and  on  the  18th  Governor  Harrison  was 
welcomed  to  Vincennes  by  a  body  of  some  two  hundred  of  her  citizens  ; 
and  in  the  following  month  a  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  him  by  the 
Kentucky  legislature. 

While  the  Prophet  was  engaging  the  army  of  Gov.  Harrison,  Te- 
cumseh  was  in  the  south  rallying  the  tribes  in  behalf  of  his  grand 
scheme  of  confederation,  little  dreaming  that  his  brother  had  spoiled 
his  plans  and  broken  the  chain  of  his  wily  efforts ;  and  when  he  return- 
ed, he  is  said  to  have  been  so  enraged  at  his  brother,  upon  learning 
what  he  had  done,  that,  in  a  feeling  of  great  anger,  he  gathered  hold 
of  the  hair  of  his  head,  and  threatened  to  kill  him. 

Tecumseh  now  thought  of  peace;  visited  Gov.  Harrison  again,  and 
wished  to  call  upon  the  President,  as  the  Governor  had  suggested,  be- 
fore his  journey  south  ;  but  upon  Gov.  Harrison  not  wishing  him  to 
take  many  of  his  warriors  with  him,  he  refused  to  visit  Washington, 
and  his  conference  with  the  Governor  ended  for  the  time,  and  soon 
after  made  his  way  to  Ft.  Wayne,  while  the  Prophet  took  up  his  abode 
at  a  village  on  the  Mississinnewa  river,  about  seventy  miles  south- 
west of  Fort.  Wayne. 

— which  comprised  his  whole  state — in  the  costume  of  a  hunter,  often  entering  the  court 
room  with  his  rifle  in  his  hands,  at  the  very  moment  his  case  was  ready  for  hearing. 
His  extraordinary  life  was  ended  at  Tippecarioe.  He  assumed  command  of  a  troop  of 
Kentucky  horse,  after  having  been  defeated  by  Henry  Clay,  in  the  effort,  as  United  States 
District  Attorney  to  secure  the  conviction  of  Aaron  Burr." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


As  the  dashing  billows  lave    the    beach, 
And  rush  back  again  into  the  deep, 

So  the  war  element  sought  to  reach 
A  frenzied  height  and  keep 

The    West  still  unbless'd. 


Assembling  of  the  Indians  at  Fort  Wayne  to  receive  their  annuities — Many  of  them 
fresh  from  the  scene  of  the  late  battle  ofTippecanoe — Col.  John  JohnSon,  Indiau 
agent  here — The  old  Council-House — Early  scenes — Peaceful  protestations  of  the 
Indians — Tecumseh  visits  Fort  Wayne — Failing  to  obtain  ammunition,  he  gives  the 
war-whoop  and  leaves — Depredations  begun  again  on  the  frontiers — The  Ohio  mili- 
tia called  out — Command  of  the  army  surrendered  to  Gen.  Hull — Army  under  Hull 
reaches  Urbana,  Ohio — Triumphal  arch  erected — Further  movements  of  the  army — 
The  British  capture  an  American  schooner — Col.  Cass  sent  to  demand  its  surrender 
— Gen.  Hull  proposes  to  invade  Canada — issues  a  proclamation — Its  effects — Itecon- 
iioitering  expedition  under  Perry — Tecumseh  joins  the  British — Hull  retreats  from 
Canada,  and  reaches  Detroit  again— His  surrender  to  the  British — Bitter  feelings 
against  Hull  at  this  result — The  British  plan  an  expedition  against  Fort  Wayne — 
Surrender  of  Mackinaw---Delay  in  notifying  the  Forts-— Situation  of  Fort  Dearborn 
(Chicago)---Maj.  Stickney,  Indian  agent  at  Fort  Wayne,  sends  an  express  to  Chica- 
go-—Relief  proposed  for  Capt.  Ileald,  at  Fort  Dearborn---Capt.  Wells  chosen  to  carry 
out  tho  designs  of  Maj.  Stickney---Wells  selects  30  Miami  Indians,  and  leaves  Ft. 
Wayne  for  Chicago---His  arrival  there— -Situation  of  affairs— -Wells  sees  danger 
ahead-— The  fort  abandoned---With  blackened  face,  Wells  takes  the  lead  — -Tho 
Pottawattamies  in  ambush--- An  attack---Bravery  of  the  troops---Death  of  Wells--- 
The  Miamies  fly---The  Indians  demand  a  surrender,  which  is  complied  with — Their 
treachery — Bravery  of  Mrs.  Heald — Division  uf  the  prisoners — Wells'  heart  cut 
out  and  eaten  by  the  Indians— Escape  of  the  prisoners  and  safe  arrival  within  tho 
U.  S.  lines. 


OME  DAYS  after  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  (on  the  22nd  of  Nov.,) 
jthe  period  for  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Indians  to  receive  their 
.p  annuities,  having  arrived,  they  began  to  assemble  in  great  num- 
1  bers  to  receive  their  allotted  portions.  John  Johnson,  Esq.,  was 
then  Indian  agent  here. 
Many  of  the  chiefs  in  attendance  vrere  fresh  from  the  scene  of  the 
recent  hostilities  at  Tippecanoe,  claiming  their  respective  portions  of  the 
annuity  equal  with  the  most  peaceful  of  the  tribes — representing  that 
the  Prophet's  followers  had  him  in  confinement,  and  purposed  taking 
his  life ;  that  he  was  chargeable  with  all  their  troubles  ;  together  with 
many  other  stories  of  a  similar  character,  all,  more  or  less,  in  the  main, 
untrue,  especially  as  regarded  the  Prophet's  confinement,  for,  at  that 


200  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

• ' 

time,  he  was  at  full  liberty  on  the  Mississinnewa.  But  the  stories  pre- 
sented to  Col.  Johnson  had  the  desired  effect  and  he  was  induced  there- 
by to  inform  the  Government  that  the  Indians  were  all  favorable  to 
peace,  and  "  that  no  further  hostilities  should  be  committed  against 
them ; "  and,  "  yet  says  M'Afee,"  in  most  of  the  nations  here  assembled, 
a  British  faction  was  boiling  to  the  brim,  and  ready  to  flow  on  our 
devoted  frontiers,  wherever  the  British  agents  might  think  proper  to 
increase  the  fire  of  their  hostility."* 

The  old  council-house  was  located  about  the  spot  now  occupied  by 
Michael  Hedekin,  Esq.  It  was  a  two-story  log  building,  about  sixty 
feet  long,  by  about  twenty  wide;  and  stood  but  a  short  distance  to  the 
south-west  of  the  fort.  It  was  in  this  building  the  agent  lived.  And 
it  was  often  an  interesting  as  well  as  a  painful  sight  to  witness  the 
tall  red  men,  with  their  painted  faces,  gaily  plumed  with  feathers  and 
trinkets ;  their  skins  in  some  instances  barely  covering  their  loins,  in 
others  measurably  dressed  in  skins,  or  with  a  blanket  wrapped  about 
them,  sitting  in  groups  here  and  there,  or  standing  at  some  point  re- 
counting their  adventures  or  misfortunes  ;  or,  having  drank  freely  of 
"  fire-water,"  were  venting  their  savage  ferocity  upon  each  other  in  hard 
words  or  death-blows  with  the  tomahawk  or  scalping-knife  ;  the  squaws 
wandering  about  with  their  pappooses  to  their  backs,  or  sitting  about 
with  their  Indian  husbands,  all  awaiting  their  turns  to  receive  their  an- 
nuity, or  in  some  way  obtain  some  little  favor,  if  only  a  pipe  or  loaf  of 
wheat  bread,  at  the  hands  of  some  pale  face  or  friend.  Such  was  life 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  council-house  and  fort  here  during  portions  of 
many  years  subsequent  to  the  treaty  of  Greenville. 

The  assemblage  of  the  Indians,  to  receive  their  annuity  at  the;  hands 
of  Col.  Johnson,  '•  after* the  battle  of  Tippecarioe,  consisted  principally 
of  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Miarnies,  the  Delawares,  the  Pottawat- 
amies,  and  Shawanoes.  Col.  Johnson,  on  this  occasion,  delivered 
them  a  speech,  presenting  the  importance  of  an  adherence  to  peaceable 
relations  on  the  part  of  the  tribes  and  the  United  States — telling  them 
that  the  President  was  desirous  of  living  in  peace  and  friendship  with 
them  ;  and  that  pardon  should  be  granted  to  any  of  the  hostile  tribes 
who  would  put  away  their  arms  and  be  peaceable.  To  which  Black- 
Hoof,  a  Shawanoe  chief,  responded  in  behalf  of  all  the  tribes  present, 
assuring  the  Col.  that  they  all  professed  the  strongest  desire  to  lay  hold 
of  the  chain  of  peace  and  friendship  with  the  United  States.  It  was  be- 
lieved that  this  expression  was  sincere  on  the  part  of  the  Shawanoes 
and  a  large  number  of  the  Delawares  ;  but  that  the  Miamies  and  Pot- 
tawattamies  had  little  or  no  intention  of  being  peaceable  after  receiv- 
ing their  annuities.!  Says  M'Afee,  in  his  "History  of  the  late  \var(18l2) 
in  the  Western  Country,"  page  40,  "  The  Little  'Turtle  of  the  Miamies, 
now  in  the  decline  of  life  and  influence,  was  the  strenuous  advocate  of 

*Prior  to  the  battle  of  Tippecanoc,  the  Governor-General  of  Canada  had  informed  our 
Government  that  the  Indian?  "were  hostile  to  the  United  States  ;  but  it  was  supposed  that 
ho  had  done  so  with  a  view  only  to  remove  suspicion*  as  to  the  course  of  the  British,  and 
to  render  their  intrigues  with  the  Iniaiis  the  more  successful.  jM'Afee. 


w 
1-1 
h 


h 

1-1 

j 


W 
W 

03 


SKETCH  OF  LITTLK  TURTLE — His  DEATH. 

peace,  but  the  majority  of  his  people  followed  the  counsels  of  Te- 
cumseh."* 

The  Indians  now  made  many  pretentious  to  peace.  Stone-Eater, 
with  others,  visited  Fort  Harrison,  and  delivered  a  talk  to  Capt.  Snell- 
ing,  who,  with  a  small  detachment,  had  taken  possession  of  that  post 
after  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  After  professing  much  friendship, 
they  visited  Vincennes,  and  he  told  the  Governor  of  their  contrition  at 
what  had  happened,  and  professed  a  strong  desire  for  friendship,  prom- 
ising to  punish  the  Prophet,  or  deliver  him  up  to  the  United  States, 
as  soon  as  they  could  get  hold  of  him  ;  and  soon  after  returned  to  their 
homes.  Visits  were  now  frequent  to  see  the  Governor  at  Vincennes  ; 

*It  was  on  the  14th  of  July  of  this  year  (1812)  that  the  famous  Little  Turtle  died  in  his 
1  odge  at  the  old  orchard,  a  short  distance  north  of  the  confluence  of  the  St.  Mary  and 
St.  Joseph,  in  the  yard  fronting  the  house  of  his  brother-in-law,  Capt.  Wm.  Wells.  Tur- 
tle had  suffered  for  many  months  previous  with  the  gout,  and  came  here  from  his  place 
of  residence,  at  Little  Turtle  village,  on  Bel  river,  about  20  miles  north-west  of  Fort 
Wayne,  to  be  .treated  by  the  U.  S.  Surgeon  at  the  fort. 

It  was  a  solemn  and  interesting  occasion.  After  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  Turtle  had 
remained  the  true  and  faithful  friend  of  the  Americans  and  the  U.  S.  Government,  and 
was  much  beloved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  Tecumseh  strove  hard  to  gain 
his  confidence  and  aid,  but  without  effect,  for  nothing  could  move  him  from  his  purposes 
of  peace_and  good-will  towards  the  Americans. 

In  the  language  of  one  who  was  present  at  his  burial:  "His  body  was  borne  to  the 
grave  with  the  highest  honors,  by  his  great  enemy,  the  white  man.  The  muffled  drum, 
the  solemn  march,  the  funeral  salute,  announced  that  a  great  soldier  had  fallen,  and 
even  enemies  paid  tribute  to  his  memory." 

His  remains  were  interred  about  the  center  of  the  old  orchard,  with  all  his  adornments, 
implements  of  war,  a  sword,  presented  to  him  by  General  Washington,  together  with  a 
medal,  with  the  likeness  of  Washington  thereon,— all  laid  by  the  side  of  the  body,  and 
hidden  beneath  the  sod  in  one  common  grave.  The  exact  spot  of  his  grave  is  still  known 
to  some  of  the  early  settlers  of  Fort  Wayne,  who  still  survive  among  us,  Mr.  J.  P. 
Hedges  among  the  number. 

Turtle  had  a  somewhat  remarkable  mind.  Was,  for  many  years,  the  leading  spirit 
here, ---unsurpassed  for  bravery  and  intelligence,  perhaps,  by  none  of  his  race.  Of  a 
very  inquiring  turn  of  mind,  he  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  gain  some  valuable  infor- 
mation, upon  almost  every  subject  or  object  that  attracted  his  attention;  and  sought  by 
every  means  in  his  power,  during  the  latter  days  of  his  life,  to  relieve  his  people  from  ev- 
ery debasing  habit---encouraging  them  only  in  the  more  peaceful,  sober,  and  indus- 
trial relations  of  life. 

In  1797,  accompanied  by  Captain  Wells,  he  visited  Philadelphia,  where  lie  enjoyed 
the  society  of  the  distinguished  Count  Volney,  and  the  Polish  patriot,  Kosciusko,  and 
others.  While  in  Philadelphia,  at  this  period,  he  had  his  portrait  taken,  by  order  of 
the  President.  Stopping  at  the  same  house  with  Turtle,  in  Philadelpha,  was  an  Irish 
gentleman,  somewhat  remarkable  as  a  wit,  who  made  it  a  point  to  "  pok>?  fun  "  at  the 
Turtle  whenever  an  occasion  offered.  The  Irish  gentleman  and  Turtle  happening  to 
meet  one  morning  in  the  studio  of  -Stewart,  the  artist  engaged  in  painting  each  of  their 
portraits,  the  Irishman  .observing  Turtle  in  a  rather  unusually  thoughtful  mood,  began  to 
rally  him  upon  his  sober  demeanor,  and  suggested,  through  Captain  Wells,  that  it  was 
because  of  his  inability  to  cope  with  him  in  the  jocular  contest.  At  this  the  Turtle 
brightened  up.  "He  mistakes,"  said  the  Turtle,  to  Captain  Wells,  in  reply  ;  "I  was 
just  thinking  of  proposing  to  this  man  (the  painter)  to  paint  us  both  on  one  noard,  and 
here  I  would  stand,  face  to  face  with  him,  and  confound  him  to  all  eternity." 

Little  Turtle  was  of  mixed  origin — half  Mohican  and  half  Miami — and  the  son  of  a 
chief ;  born  at  his  village,  on  Eel  River,  about  the  year  1747,  and  very  early  became  the 
•war-chief  of  the  Miamies.  In  stature,  he  was  short,  well  built,  with  symmetical  form 
— pmHiinent  forehead,  heavy  eye  brows,  keen,  black  eyes,  and  a  large  chin.  • 

Such  wa»  Little  Turtle,  (Me-che-kan-nah-quah) — the  bravest  among  the  brave,  and 
wisest  among  the  wise  of  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest  of  his  day — leading  an  army  of 
braves  to  sure  victory  one  hour — cutting  and  slashing,  as  with  the  ferocity  of  a  tiger,  at, 
one  moment, — and  us  passive  and  gentle  as  a  child  the  next.  Ever  may  his  geatlerand 
better  deeds  be  perpetuated  by  th«  American  people. 


202  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

but  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet,  who  were  known  to  be  still  hostile, 
kept  away,  and  this  readily  led  to  the  conclusion  that  but  little  reli- 
ance was  to  be  placed  upon  what  was  said  by  many  visiting  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  others  in  authority,  as  agents  and  commandants. 

Tecumseli  made  his  appearance  at  Fort  Wayne  sometime  during 
the  month  of  December,  soon  after  his  return  from  the  south.  The 
result  of  his  brother's  efforts  had  effected  him  deeply.  He  seemed 
to  know  not  which  way  to  turn.  His  scheme  was  broken,  but  his 
great  will  still  bore  him  aloft  over  the  impediments  that  had  accu- 
mulated in  his  path-way ;  and  yet  he  was  for  war — for  freedom — for 
the  extermination  of  the  white  race  that  occupied  the  ancient  hunt- 
ing ground  of  his  fathers.  His  air  was  haughty ;  and,  says  McAfee, 
he  was  still  "  obstinate  in  the  opinions  he  had  embraced.  He  made 
bitter  reproaches  against  Harrison ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  had  the 
presumption  to  demand  ammunition  from  the  commandant  (here), 
which  was  refused  him.  He  then  said  he  would  go  to  his  British 
father,  who  would  not  deny  him.  He  appeared  thoughtful  a  while, 
then  gave  the  war-whoop,  and  went  off." 

Such  was  the  spirit  in  which  Tecumseh  left  Fort  Wayne  on  this 
memorable  occasion;  and  "early  in  the  spring  of  1812,  he  and  his 
party  began  to  put  their  threats  into  execution.  Small  parties  be- 
gan to  commit  depredations  on  the  frontiers  of  the  Indiana  and  Il- 
linois Territories,  and  part  of  Ohio.  Twenty  scalps  were  taken  in 
the  Indiana  Territory  alone  before  the  first  of  June  ;  and  the  people 
were  thus  compelled  to  protect  themselves  by  goipg  into  forts  along 
the  frontiers.  Volunteer  companies  of  militia  were  organized,  and 
the  Indians  were  frequently  pursued,  but  generally  without  success, 
as  they  fled  at  once  after  committing  their  depredations.  Governor 
Harrison  asked  permission  of  the  war  department  to  raise  a  mounted 
force  to  penetrate  to  their  towns,  with  a  view  of  chastising  them. 
But  this  was  refused,  the  government  hesitating  to  disturb  them  in 
that  way  at  that  time,  fearing  least  they  would  take  a  more  active 
part  with  the  British.  Tippecanoe  was  again  occupied,  and  there 
the  Indians  were  again  planting-  their  corn.  By  vigorous  meas- 
ures," says  M'Afee,  "  we  might  have  beaten  them  ipto  peaceable 
deportment  and  respect.  Mr.  Secretary  Eustis,  of  the  war  depart- 
ment, thought  differently ;  and  while  he  \vas  attempting  to  soothe 
them  with  good  words,  they  were  laughing  at  his  credulity.  To 
maintain  peace  with  an  Indian,"  continues  the  same  writer,  "  it  is  nec- 
essary to  adopt  his  own  principles,  and  punish  every  aggression 
promptly,  and  thus  convince  him  that  you  are  a  man,  and  not  a 
squaw"  ' 

Thus  stood  affairs  in  the  early  part  of  June,  1812;  and  by  the 
18th  of  that  month,  matters  had  so  far  approached  a  war  basis  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  the  United  States — an  issue  that  had  for 
some  months  prior  been  anticipated — that  the  American  Govern- 
ment had  announced  a  declaration  of  war  against  the  English  gov- 
ernment. As  early  as  the  month  of  April  an  embargo  was  levied 


MOVEMENT  OF  THE  ARMY  UNDER  HULL.  2*03 

by  Congress  on  all  the  shipping  in  ports  of  the  U.  S.,  and  "an  act 
authorizing  the  President  to  detach  one  hundred  thousand  militia 
for  six  months,"  was  adopted  and  put  into  force ;  while  several  other 
acts,  authorizing  the  recruiting  of  a  regular  army,  were  likewise 
passsd,  and  the  masses  were  all  astir  with  the  feeling  and  anticipa- 
tion of  war. 

During  this  month  the  President  made  a  requisition  on  the  State 
of  Ohio  for  twelve  hundred  militia,  and  the  famous  4th  regiment, 
under  command  of  Col.  Miller,  which  had  sometime  before  been 
ordered  to  the  relief  of  Vincetmes,  was  now  ordered  to  Cincinnati, 
to  join  the  militia.  The  Ohio  militia  had  been  soon  raised,  and 
were  ordered  by  Governor  Meigs,  of  that  State,  to  rendezvous  on 
the  29th  of  April,  at  Dayton,  at  the  mouth  of  Mad  river,  on  the  Big- 
Miami.  As  previously  directed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  on  the 
25th  of  May  following,  Gov.  Meigs  surrendered  the  command  of  the 
army  to  General  Hull,  for  sometime  previously  Governor  of  Michi- 
gan Territory,  but  who,  a  short  time  previous  to  this  period,  had 
been  appointed  a  Brigadier-general  in  the  United  States  army. 
From  Dayton  the  army  under  Hull  took  up  its  line  of  march  for 
Staunton  on  the  first  of  June.  From  Staunton  they  marched  to 
Urbana.  Here,  on  the  8th,  says  M'Afee,  they  were  informed  that 
they  would  be  met  that  day  on  parade,  by  the  governor,  accompa- 
nied by  many  distinguished  citizens  and  some  Indian  chiefs.  On 
the  following  day,  governor  Meigs  and  general  Hull  held  a  council 
with  twelve  chiefs,  of  the  Shawanoe,  Mingoe,  and  Wyandot  nations, 
to  obtain  leave  from  them  to  march  the  army  through  their  terri- 
tory, and  to  erect  such  forts  as  might  be  deemed  necessary ;  which 
was  promptly  granted  by  them,  and  every  assistance  which  they 
cold  give  the  army  in  the  wilderness  was  promised.  Gov.  Meigs 
had  held  a  council  with  these  Indians  on  the  6th,.  in  which  it  was 
agreed  to  adhere  to  the  treaty  of  Greenville. 

On  the  10th  of  June,  the  4th  regiment,  under  Col.  Miller,  made 
its  appearance  at  Urbana,  and  were  escorted  into  camp  through  a 
triumphal  arch,  adorned  with  an  eagle,  and  inscribed  with  the 
words, "  TIPPECANOE — GLORY."* 

From  Urbana  the  army,  on  the  16th,  moved  as  far  as  King's 
Creek,  and  from  this  point  opened  a  road  as  far  as  the  Sciota,  where 
they  built  two  block-houses,  which  they  called  Fort  M'Arthur,  in 
honor  of  the  officer  whose  regiment  had  opened  the  road.  To  this 
fort  the  whole  army  came  on  the  19th,  and  on  the  21st  Col.  Findley 
was  ordered  to  open  the  road  as  far  as  Blanchard's  fork,  on  the  Au- 
glaize,  whither  the  army,  excepting  a  guard  left  at  Fort  M'Arthur, 
again  followed  on  the  22d.  Here,  amid  rain  and  mud,  another 
block-house  was  erected,  which  was  called  Fort  Necessity.  From 
Fort  Necessity  the  army  soon  after  moved  to  Blanchard's  fork, 
where  Col.  Findley  had  built  a  block-house,  which  was  called  in 
honor  of  that  officer.  A  road  was  shortly  after,  under  command  of 


204  lilSTOKY    OF  FOKT 

Col.  Cass,  cut  to  the  rapids,  and  the  main  army  soon  encamped  on 
the  banks  of  the  Maumee,  opposite  the  old  battle  ground  of  Gen. 
Wayne,  in  sight  of  the  village  then  at  the  foot  of  the  Rapids,  which 
had  the  effect  to  greatly  revive  the  feelings  of  the  soldiers  after 
their  tedious  march  through  the  wilderness.  From  this  point,  after 
a  day  or  two's  rest,  the  army  moved  down  just  below  the  old  British 
fort  Miami,  from  which  the  Indians  had  been  so  long  supplied  with 
ammunition,  etc.,  before  their  defeat  in  that  quarter,  in  1794. 

From  here,  about  the  last  of  June,  a  small  schooner  was  dis- 
pacthed  to  Detroit,  with  about  thirty  officers  and  privates,  with  the 
muster-rolls  of  the  different  companies,  accompanied  by  an  open 
boat,  in  which  were  a  number  of  sick  soldiers.  Fears  had  previ- 
ously been  entertained  that  the  boat  would  be  captured,  but  Gen- 
eral Hull  insisted  on  its  departure.  Jn  the  meantime,  the  army 
had  again  taken  up  its  march,  and  wSs  to  halt  again  at  the  river 
Raisin,  whither,  upon  its  arrival  there,  the  army  soon  learned  that 
the  schooner,  in  attempting  to  pass  Maiden,  had  been  captured  by 
the  British.  The  declaration  of  war  was  now  generally  known. 
From  the  river  Raisin,  the  army  proceeded  to  the  River  Huron, 
fifteen  miles,  over  which  narrow  stream,  on  the  4th  of  July,  they 
built  a  bridge.  From  this  point,  on  the  5th,  the  army  proceeded 
towards  Detroit,  and  soon  formed  an  encampment  within  view  of 
the  place.  The  northwestern  posts  were  now  informed  of  the  dec- 
laration of  war;  and  the  commanding  officers  of  Fort  Wayne,  De- 
troit, Michillimackinaw,  and  Chicago,  were  ordered  by  Gen.  Hull 
to  place  their  garrisons  "in  the  best  possible  state  of  defence,"  with- 
out delay,  and  to  "  make  a  return  to  Brigade  Major  Jessup,  at  De- 
troit, of  the  quantity  of  provisions  the '  contractor  had  on  hand  at 
their  respective  posts,  the  number  of  officers  and  men,  ordnance, 
and  military  stores  of  every  kind,  and  the  public  property  of  all 
kinds."* 

On  the  6th,  Col.  Cass  was  sent  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  Maiden  to 
demand  the  prisoners  and  baggage  of  the  captured  schooner;  but 
his  demands  were  not  respected,  arid,  being  blindfolded,  soon  after 
returned  to  camp  with  a  British  officer.  The  army  now,  with  a  view 
to  safety,  should  the  English  commence  a  bombardment,  removed 
to  the  rear  of  Detroit. 

General  Hull  now  conceived  the  plan  of  an  invasion  of  Canada, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  July,  the  British  having  moved 
from  their  former  position  towards  Maiden,  in  fear  of  loosing  that 
point,  the  regiments  of  Cols.  Miller  and  Cass,  at  a  point  about  a  mile 
above  Detroit,  successfully  gained  the  Canadian  shore,  and  soon 
after,  followed  by  General  Hull  and  others,  the  stars  and  stripes  were 
run  up  from  a  brick  dwelling  on  the  farm  of  a  British  officer,  by 
the  name  of  Bambee,  and  on  the  same  day,  General  Hull  issued  his 
noted  proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  of  Canada,  in  which  he  re- 
quested the  Canadians  to  remain  quiet ;  to  pursue  their  usual  voca- 

*  Order  of  General  Hull. 


SURBENDEB  OF  DETBOIT.  .  205 

tions,  etc.;  assuring  them  that  he  "  came  to  find  enemies,  not  to  make 
them.  I  come  to  protect,  not  to  injure  you.  Separated  by  an  im- 
mense ocean  and  an  extensive  wilderness  from  great  Britain,"  said 
he,  "  you  have  no  participation  in  her  councils,  no  interest  in  her 
conduct.  You  have  felt  her  tyranny;  you  have  seen  her  injustice; 
but  I  do  not  ask  you  to  avenge  the  one  or  to  redress  the  other." 

The  effect  of  the  proclamation  was  most  salutary  for  the  time 
— many  of  the  inhabitants  of  Sandwich  returning  to  their  dwellings 
again  from  the  woods,  whither  they  had  fled  on  the  approach  of  the 
American  forces,  having  been  told  by  the  British  officers,  much 
like  the  inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia,  at  the  time  of  Clark's  movements 
in  the  west,  that  the  Americans  were  an  army  of  cannibals, — worse 
than  savages. 

With  about  forty  men,  on  the  13th,  Capt.  Ulry  was  sent  on  a  re- 
connoitering  expedition  in  the  direction  of  Maiden,  and,  upon  ap- 
proaching a  partially  destroyed  bridge  extending  over  Turkey  Creek, 
some  nine  miles  from  camp,  he  discovered  a  party  of  some  two  hun- 
dred Indians  lying  in  ambush,  intending,  if  possible,  to  cut  off  any 
detachment  that  might  approach.  A  Canadian  had  informed 
Capt.  Ulry  that  a  great  number  of  Indians  were  in  the  region,  and 
being  fearful  that  he  might  be  encountered,  by  a  superior  number, 
he  at  once  returned  to  camp. 

From  the  time  of  his  abrupt  departure  from  Fort  Wayne,  up  to 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  1812,  Tecumseh  had  been  most  ac- 
tive against  the  Americans,  spiriting  up  the  Indians  at  various 
points ;  and,  from  the  first  hostile  movements  of  the  British,  had 
allied  himself  to  their  cause,  and  begun  to  take  a  most  active  part 
with  the  enemy,  who  soon  made  him  a  brigadier-general  in  their 
army.  In  August,  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  Shawanoes,  accompa- 
nied by  a  number  of  British  soldiers,  he  made  an  attack  upon  a 
company  of  Ohio  militia  sent  by  General  Hull  to  escort  some  vol- 
unteers engaged  in  bringing  supplies  for  the  army,  which  occurred 
at  Brownstown,  and  was  the  first  action  that  took  place  after  the 
declaration  of  war  had  been  made.  Tecumseh  and  his  party  had 
succeeded  in  drawing  the  company  in  ambush,  and  the  loss  sus- 
tained by  the  company  was  considerable,  and  were  resolutely  fol- 
lowed by  Tecumseh  in  their  retreat  towards  the  river  De  Corce. 
And  it  was  about  this  time  that  General  Hull  retreated  from  Cana- 
da, and  again  took  up  his  headquarters  at  Detroit.  On  the  16th  of 
August,  this  post  was  surrendered  by  General  Hull  to  a  British 
force,  consisting  of  some  seven  hundred  troops,  and  about  six  hun- 
dred Indians,  under  command  of  General  Brock,  which  placed  not 
only  the  garrison  at  Detroit,  but  the  whole  territory,  including  all 
its  forts  and  garrisons,  in  the  hands  of  the  British,  which  was  a  mat- 
ter of  as  great  astonishment  to  the  British  as  the  Americans.  Said 
General  Brock,  in  writing  to  his  superior  officer,  after  this  event, 
"  When  I  detail  my  good  fortune,  you  will  be  astonished." 

The  feeling  among  the  officers  and  privates  at  this  result  was 


206  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

very  great,  and  brought  down  upon  the  head  of  Gen.  Hull  a  shower 
of  hard  words  from  many  directions ;  although  General  Hull,  while 
Governor  of  Michigan,  previous  to  his  military  appointment,  had 
suggested  to  the  war  department  the  importance  of  having  a  supe- 
rior naval  force  on  Lake  Erie,  as  an  auxiliary  in  the  capture  of  Up- 
per Canada,  stating  that  the  object  could  not  be  effected  without  it, 
besides  pointing  out  many  obstacles  that  would  necessarily  attend  a 
different  course  of  action.  And  at  another  time  advised,  strongly, 
the  erection  of  a  navy  on  tho  lakes.  At  the  time  of  the  surrender, 
however,  Hull's  force  was  superior  to  that  of  the  British. 

Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  the  capitulation  at  Detroit,  an  expe- 
dition was  planned  by  the  British  against  Fort.  Wayne. 

The  garrison  at  Mackinaw  not  having  received  the  order  of  Gen. 
Hull,  as  written  about  the  oth  of  July,  relating  to  the  declaration  of 
war,  putting  the  several  forts  mentioned  in  the  best  defence,  etc., 
this  post  was  surrendered  on  the  17th  of  that  month,  which  had  the 
effect  to  cut  off  all  offensive  operations  in  Upper  Canada,  and  caused 
General  Hull  to  feel  much  alarm,  saying  that  "  the  whole  northern 
hordes  of  Indians  would  be  let  loose  upon  them."  The  loss  of 
Mackinaw  was  at  once  considered  a  great  impediment  to  the  Ameri- 
can cause,  for  the  surrender  of  which  General  Hull  was  greatly 
censured,  because  of  his  delay  in  forwarding  the  general  order 
made  out  about  the  5th  of  July.  And  Fort  Dearborn,  at  Chicago, 
had  suffered  a  similar  neglect,  and  was  in  an  equally  hazzardous 
position  to  that  of  Mackinaw  before  its  capture.  Towards  the  last 
of  July,  General  Hull  began  to  ihink  seriously  of  the  situation  of 
the  Chicago  Fort,  and  the  relief  of  the  garrison.  Capt.  Heald,  its 
commandant,  with  his  family,  were  now  being  surrounded  by  a 
furious  party  of  Indians  in  communication  with  Tecumseh,  who, 
though  not  yet  attempting  any  acts  of  violence  upon  the  inmates, 
were  yet  only  awaiting  the  necessary  encouragement  from  the 
enemy. 

With  this  feeling  upon  him,  General  Hull,  towards  the  latter  part 
of  July,  sent  an  express  to  Fort  Wayne  with  a  view  to  the  imme- 
diate relief  of  Captain  Heald  and  his  command  at  Chicago. 

Major  B.  F.  Stickncy  was  then  Indian  agent  at  Fort  Wayne,  and 
the  express  sent  here  for  the  purpose  of  relief  to  the  Chicago  fort, 
brought  a  request  from  Gen.  Hull  that  Major  Stickney  at  once  ex- 
tend to  Captain  Heald  all  the  information,  assistance,  and  advice 
within  his  power,  inclosing  in  his  letter  to  Major  Stickney  "  an  or- 
der to  Captain  Heald  to  accept  of  such  aid,  and  to  conform  to  such 
instructions  as  he  might  receive  from  the  Indian  agent"  at  Fort 
Wayne. 

Instructions  were  accordingly  prepared  by  Major  Stickney  to  ac- 
company the  order  of  General  Hull,  and  an  Indian  agent  dispatched 
to_  Chicago.  Among  the  contents  of  the  letter  forwarded  to  Cap- 
tain Heald,  he  was  promised  military  aid  as  soon  as  it  was  possible 
to  render  it. 


i 
CAPT.  WELLS  SENT  TO  THE  RELIEF  OF  FOET  DEARBORN.        207 

Captain  William  Wells,  the  brother-in-law  of  Little  Turtle,  was 
at  this  time  sub-Indian  agent  here.  He  had  lived  among  the  In- 
dians from  his  youth  to  an  advanced  age;  was  then,  as  before,  a 
great  favorite  with  the  Miamies,  and  accounted  a  "  perfect  master 
of  every  thing  pertaining  to  Indian  life,  both  in  peace  and  war,  and 
withal  a  stranger  to  personal  fear;" — was  replete  with  a  knowl- 
edge of  Indian  strategy;  and,  says  Major  Stickney,  "if  General 
Wayne  desired  a  prisoner,  to  obtain  information,  Captain  Wells 
could  always  furnish  one." 

Wells  was  the  man  for  the  work,  and  Major  Stickney  readily  hit 
upon  him  to  lead  a  party  to'  the  aid  of  Captain  Heald.  Having 
proposed  the  matter  to  Captain  Wells,  Major  Stickney  at  once  sug- 
gested the  raising  of  thirty  warriors  to  accompany  him.  With 
Wells,  the  Miamies  were  his  favorites,  and  from  among  their  tribe 
he  selected  the  number  required.  The  Pottawattamies  were  now 
known  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  Chicago,  and  the  fact  of  Wells  being 
a  favorite  with  the  Miamies,  made  the  former  tribe  unfriendly  to- 
wards him,  there  having  long  existed  an  unfriendly  feeling  between 
the  Miamies  and  the  Pottawattamies.  So  that  Wells'  position  was 
at  best, — should  trouble  arise  upon  their  arrival  at  Fort  Dearborn, — 
a  most  precarious  one,  a  fact  that  he  was  by  no  means  unacquaint- 
ed with,  but  his  fearless  nature  readily  threw  him  into  the  opposite 
scale  of  undaunted  determination,  and  on  the  3d  of  August,  with  his 
braves  well  equipped  by  the  agent,  all  in  readiness,  he  set  out,  full 
of  hope  and  courage,  for  the  relief  of  the  garrison  at  Chicago,, 
whither  they  arrived  on  the  12th  of  the  month. 

Wells  and  his  party  had  not  been  long  at  the  fort  before  he  dis- 
covered unmistakable  evidences  of  coming  trouble.  For  some  days 
a  large  number  of  Pottawattamies  and  Winnebagoes,  professing 
friendship,  had  been  encamped  about  the  fort;  and  for  some  time 
Tecumseh  and  the  British,  through  their  runners,  had  kept  up  a 
regular  correspondence  with  the  Indians  in  the  locality,  who  had 
only  been  awaiting  the  result  at  Maiden  in  order  to  join  one  side  or 
the  other.  On  the  night  of  the  14th,  a  runner  having  arrived  among, 
the  Indians  there  with  the  news  from  Tecumseh  that  Major  Van- 
horn  had  been  defeated  at  Brownstown ;  that  the  army  under  Hull 
had  returned  to  Detroit;  and  that  there  was  every  hope  and  proS- 
pect  of  success,  the  Indians  about  the  region  were  at  once  decided 
to  join  the  British,  and  resolved  to  remain  no  longer  inactive.* 

Wells  was  warmly  attached  to  Captain  Heald.  The  latter  had1 
married  his  niece,  and  she  was  with  her  husband,  to  share  alike  the 
dangers  and  vicissitudes  that  surrounded  them. 

On  the  arrival  of  Wells  and  his  warriors  at  the  fort,  Capt.  Heald 
told  Wells  that  he  had  received  the  dispatch  from  the  agent  at  Fort 
Wayne,  with  the  order  of  General  Hull;  that,  on  its  receipt  he  had 
called  together  all  the  Indian  warrior^  in  his  neighborhood,  and 
had  entered  into  a  tieaty  with  them  The  leading  terms  were,  that 

*  M'Afea. 


208  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

he  was  to  Deliver  up  to  the  Indians,  the  Fort  with  all  its  contents, 
except  arms,  ammunition  and  provisions  necessary  for  their  march 
to  Fort  Wayne.  The  Indians  on  their  part  were  to  permit  him  to 
pass  unmolested.  Wells  at  once  protested  against  the  terms  of  the 
treaty.  There  was  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition  and  whisky  in 
the  Fort.  These,  he  declared,  they  should  not  have.  He  urged, 
that  if  the  Indians  had  the  whisky  they  would  get  drunk,  and  pay 
no  regard  to  the  treaty ;  and  he  was  for  throwing  the  ammunition 
and  whisky  into  the  Lake.  The  Indians  learned  what  was  going 
on  in  the  Fort,  and  determined  to  attack  Heald  and  his  party,  at 
the  first  convenient  point,  after  they  should  leave  the  Fort.  Wells 
understood  Indian  character  so  perfectly  that  he  was  aware  of  their 
intentions  at  a  glance. 

As  soon  as  it  was  daybreak,  Wells  saw  that  the  tomahawk  was 
sharpening  for  them,  and  told  Heald  they  must  be  off  as  quick  as 
possible,  hoping  to  move 'before  the  Indians  were  ready  for  them. 
No  time  was  to  be  lost.  To-pee-nee-bee,  a  chief  of  the  St.  Joseph's 
band,  had,  early  in  the  morning-,  informed  a  Mr.  Kinzie  of  the- mis- 
chief that  was  intended  by  the  Pottawattamies,  who  had  engaged 
to  escort  the  detachment;  and  urged  him  to  relinquish  his  design 
of  accompanying  the  troops  by  land,  promising  him  that  the  boat 
containing  himself  and  family  should  be  permitted  to  pass  in  safety 
to  the  St.  Joseph's,  which  was  declined  by  Mr.  K.,  on  the  ground 
that  his  presence  might  operate  as  a  restraint  upon  the  fury  of  the 
savages,  so  warmly  were  the  greater  part  them  attached  to  himself 
and  family.* 

As  the  troops  marched  out,  on  the  morning  of  the  15th,  the  band 
struck  up  the  Dead  March,  as  if  some  invisible  force  had  im- 
pressed upon  them  the  inevitable  fate  many  of  them  were  soon  to 
meet ;  and  on  they  moved,  solemn  and  thoughtful,  in  military  array, 
Captain  Wells  taking  the  lead,  at  the  head  of  his  little  band  of  Mi- 
ami warriors,  his  face  blackened, "  in  token  of  his  impending  fate." 
Taking  their  route  along  the  lake  shore,  as  they  gained  a  range  of 
sand-hills  lying  between  the  prairie  and  the  beach,  the  escort  of 
Pottawattamies,  some  five  hundred  in  number,  instead  of  continuing 
along  the  beach  with  the  Americans  and  Miamies,  kept  the  level  of 
the  prairie,  and  had  marched  perhaps  about  a  mile  and  a  half, 
when  Capt.  Wells,  who  had  rode  a  little  in  advance  with  the  Miam- 
ies, suddenly  came  galloping  back,  exclaiming:  "They  are  about 
to  attack  us ;  form  instantly,  and  charge  upon  them,"  telling  his 
niece  not  to  be  alarmed  ;  that  "  they  would  not  hurt  her,  but  that 
he  would  be  killed."!  And  no  sooner  had  he  ceased  to  speak,  than 
a  volley  was  fired  from  among  the  sand-hills.  The  troops  being 
now  hastily  brought  into  line,  they  charged  rapidly  up  the  bank.  A 
veteran,  of  some  seventy  years,  was  the  first  to  fall.  Capt.  Wells 
soon  fell,  "  pierced  with  many  balls ;"  and  in  the  words  of  one  of 
the  party,  (Mrs.  Kinzie),  "  Pee-so-tum  *  *  held  dangling  in  his 

*"  Wan-Bun,  or  Early  day  in  the  Northwest."  t  Maj.  B.  F.  Stickney. 


BRAVERY  AND  WISDOM  OF  MRS.  HEALD.  209 

hand  a  scalp,  which,  by  the  black  ribbon  around  the  queue,  I  re- 
cognized as  that  of  Capt.  Wells."  Their  leader  now  being  killed, 
the  Miamies  fled  ;  one  of  their  chiefs,  however,  before  leaving  the 
scone  of  disaster,  riding  up  to  the  Fottawattamies,  and  exclaiming 
to  them  in  pretty  strong  terms :  "  You  have  deceived  the  Ameri- 
cans and  us.  You  have  done  a  bad  action,  and  (brandishing  his 
tomahawk),  I  will  be  the  the  first  to  head  a  party  of  Americans  to 
return  and  punish  your  treachery;"  and  then  galloped  away  over 
the  prairie  in  pursuit  ot  his  companions,  who  were  rapidly  making 
their  way  back  towards  Fort  Wayne. 

"The  troops,"  says  Mrs.  Kinzie,*  ''behaved  moBt  gallantly.  They 
were  but  a  handful ;  but  they  seemed  resolved  to  sell  their  lives  as 
dearly  as  posssible.  Our  horses  pranced  and  bounded,  and  could 
hardly  be  restrained,  as  the  balls  whistled  among  them." 

The  Indians  made  several  desperate  attempts  to  rush  upon  and 
tomahawk  the  soldiers,  but  every  such  effort  was  bravely  repulsed 
by  them.  Several  women  and  children  were  killed;  and  the  ranks 
at  length  became  so  reduced  as  not  to  exceed  twenty  effective  men ; 
yet  they  were  undaunted  and  resolute,  and  remained  united  while 
able  to  fire.  Having  now  withdrawn  some  distance  from  their  for- 
mer position,  the  Indians  sent  a  small  French  boy  to  'demand  a 
surrender.  The  boy  was  Capt.  Heald's  interpreter,  who  had  de- 
serted to  the  side  of  the  Indians  in  the  early  part  of  the  engage- 
ment. Advancing  very  cautiously  towards  the  Americans,  a  Mr. 
Griffith  advanced  to  meet  him,  intending  to  kill  him  for  his  con- 
duct in  deserting  ;  but  the  boy  declaring  that  it  was  the  only  way  he 
could  save  himself,  and  at  the  same  time  appearing  quite  sorry  ior 
having  been  obliged  to  act  as  he  did,  he  was  permitted  to  come  for- 
ward. He  said  the  Indians  proposed  to  spare  the  lives  of  the 
Americans,  if  they  would  surrender.  .But  the  surviving  soldiers  all 
rejected  it.  Conveying  their  determination  to  the  Indians,  he  soon 
returned,  saying  the  Indians  were  very  numerous,  and  strongly 
urged  Mr.  Griffith  to  use  his  endeavors  to  bring  about  a  sur- 
render, which  was  at  length  consented  to,  and  the  men  having  laid 
down  their  arms,  the  Indians  at  once  came  forward  to  receive  them ; 
when,  in  the  face  of  their  promise,  they  tomahawked  three  or  four 
of  the  men;  and  one  Indian,  it  is  stated,  with  the  fury  of  a  demon, 
approached  Mrs.  Heald,  with  his  tomahawk  raised  to  strike  her. 
Much  accustomed  to  danger,  and  being  well  acquainted  with  In- 
dian character,  with  remarkable  presence  of  mind,  she  looked  him 
earnestly  in  the  face,  and,  smiling,  said ;  "  Surely  you  will  not  kill 
a  squaw."  Her  "  action,  suited  to  the  Avord,"  had  the  desired  effect. 
The  Indian's  arm  fell ;  his  savage  resolution  was  broken ;  and  a 
moment  more  saw  the  heroic  and  thoughtful  Mrs.  Heald  under  the 
protection  of  the  barbarous  hand  that  was  about  to  rob  her  of  life. 
Mrs.  Heald  was  the  daughter  of  General  Samuel  Wells,  of  Ken- 
tucky, Avho  fought  most  valliantly  at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  against 

*"  Early  Day  in  the  Xortlnvcsl,,"  pages  221  and  :22f>.  (14) 


210 


HISTORY  OF  FOET  WAYNE. 


the  followers  of  the  Prophet.     Captain  Wells'  head  -was  cut  off  and 
his  heart  taken  out  and  eaten  by  the  Indians."* 

In  accordance  with  their  ancient  custom^  the  Indians  now  de- 
vided  the  prisoners.  Captain  Heald,  Mrs.  Heald,  and  Mr.  Griffith 
being  selected  by  the  Ottawas,  were  taken  by  this  band  on  the 
lake,  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  Joseph.  Having  been  se- 
verely wounded,  they  considered  their  fate  as  inevitably  sealed ; 
but  some  angelic  arm  seem  to  have  been  stretched  forth  to  aid  them 
when  least  expected ;  and  one  day,  Griffith's  eye  accidently  fell 
upon  a  canoe,  at  a  convenient  point,  sufficiently  large  to  hold  them 
all ;  and  one  night,  soon  after,  they  succeeded  in  making  their  es- 
cape, traversing  the  lake  in  this  frail  bark  some  two  hundred  miles 
to  Mackinaw,  where  the  British  commandant  enabled  them  to  reach 
the  United  States  in  safety. 

*  As  the  character  of  Wells  was  unequalled  for  bravery,  after  his  death  the  Indians 
took  his  heart  from  his  body,  cooked  it,  and  divided  it  among  themselves  in  very  small 
pieces.  They  religiously  belived,  that  each  one  who  ate  of  it,  would  thereby  become 
as  brave  as  he  from  whom  it  was  taken, — Stickney. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

What  heroism  !  what  perils  then  ! 

How  true  of  heart  and  strong  of  hand  ; 
How  earnest,  resolute  those  pioneer  HEX  ! 

******* 


The  Indians  greatly  emboldened  by  their  8uccess  at  Chicago — The  followers  of  Tecum- 
.seh  threaten  to  exterminate  the  tribes  refusing  to  aid  their  cause — Teciimseh's  use- 
fulness to  the  British — Tecum^eh's  scheme  of  the  siege  and  massacre  of  Forts  Wayne 
and  Harrison — Renewal  of  the  war — Ohio  and  Kentucky  aroused — Col.  John  Al- 
len—The Pottawattamies  after  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Dearborn — Preparations  for 
the  siege  of  Forts  "Wayne  and  Harrison — Antonie  Bondie — The  secret  of  the  in- 
tended siege  and  massacre  of  Fort  Wayne  disclosed — Doubts  as  to  its  correctness — 
Major  Stickney  dispatches  a  messenger  to .  Gov.  Harrison — Active  preparation  for 
defense — Illness  of  Major  Stickney — Indians  prowling  about  the  fort — Death  of 
Stephen  Johnston — A  period  of  great  peril — The  siege  begun — A  stratagem — The 
Indians  desire  to  gain  an  entrance  into  the  fort— They  ask  for  a  signal — Thirteen 
of  them  admitted — Their  plot  frustrated — Winnemac  and  Captain  Rhea — Two 
soldiers  shot  by  the  Indians — Perilous  adventure  of  Wm.  Oliver  and  some  In- 
dian guides — The  garrison  learns  of  the  movements  of  Gov.  Harrison — The  army 
on  its  march  for  the  relief  of  Fort  Wayne — Gov.  Harrison  elected  a  Major-general 
— Ducking  a  soldier — The  army  at  St.  Mary's — Richard  M.  Johnson  leads  a  corps 
of  mounted  volunteers  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Wayne — Logan,  the  half-breed,  accepted 
as  a  spy — Incidents  on  the  route  of  the  army  down  the  St.  Mary — A  court-martial 
— The  halloos  of  the  Indians  taken  as  a  signal  of  the  approach  of  the  army — Great 
rejoicing  in  the  Fort — The  "  Key  of  the  West"  again  unlocks  the  door  ot  success. 


HE  SUCCESS  of  the  Indians  at  Chicago,  gave  them  great 
i courage,  and  emboldened  them  for  still  greater  efforts  for  'the. 
)overthrow  of  the  whites,  or  driving  them  beyond  the  Ohio. 
With  few  exceptions,  the  tribes  were  now,  from  the  disasters  at 
Detroit,  in  the  capture  there  of  the  large  army  under  Hull,  and 
the  previous  surrender  of  Mackinaw,  determined  in  their  course, 
and  were  every  where  more  or  less  inclined  to  the  British  interest. 
The  lew  tribes  continuing  friendly  to  the  United  States,  were  soon 
threatened  by  the  followers  of  Tecumseh  with  extermination,  who 
was  now  fast  bringing  his  great  scheme  to  an  issue,  by  the  aid  of 
the  English.  Possessing  a  most  excellent  memory,  and  being  well 
acquainted  with  every  important  position  in  the  northwest,  he  was 
readily  enabled  to  point  out  to  the  British  many  important  advan- 
tages. Before  crossing  to  Detroit,  at  the  time  of  Hull's  surrender 


212  HISTORY  OF  FOKT   WAYNE. 

General  Brock  took  occasion  to  enquire  of  Tecumsch  what  sort  of 
a  country  he  should  have  to  pass  over,  should  he  conclude  to  go 
beyond.  Taking  a  roll  of  elm  bark,  and  extending  it  on  the  ground 
by  means  of  four  stones,  Tecuniseh  drew  his  scalping-knife,  and  at 
once  began  to  etch  upon  the  bark  the  position  of  the  country,  em- 
bracing its  hills,  roads,  rivers,  morasses,  and  woods,  which,  being  a 
demonstration  of  talent  quite  unexpected  in  Tecumseh,  had  the  ef- 
fect to  please  General  Brock  very  much,  and  readily  won  for  him 
the  confidence  of  the  commanding-general.  His  position  and  in- 
fluence— strengthened  by  the  British,  and  joined  by  a  numerous 
ally  of  his  own  blood — were  now  formidable,  and  he  was  de- 
termined to  render  them  as  potent  as  his  strength  and  advantages 
would  permit,  destined,  however,  at  last  to  fall. 

His  great  plan  was  now  the  siege  and  massacre  of  Forts  Wayne 
and  Harrison.  The  Pottawattamies  and  Ottawas,  as  at  Chicago, 
aided  by  the  British,  under  Major  Muir,  were  to  be  the  leading 
spirits  in  the  movement  upon  Fort  Wayne,  while  the  Winneba- 
goes,  and  a  portion  of  the  Miamies,  who  had  been  persuaded  to 
join  the  Tecumseh  party,  were  to  surprise  and  capture  Fort  Harri- 
son ;  and  had  appointed  the  first  of  September  as  the  earliest  pe- 
riod of  attack. 

The  government,  in  the  meantime,  had  begun  most  active 
measures  for  the  renewal  and  prosecution  of  the  war.  From  the 
first,  the  President  had  disapproved  the  armistice  at  Detroit,  and. 
the  thought  of  an  invasion  of  Canada,  by  the  strait  of  Niagara,  was 
soon  upon  the  breeze  of  public  expectation,  and  the  British  com- 
mander, General  Brock,  had  early  heard  the  rumor. 

Ohio  and  Kentucky,  upon  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  Hull's  sit- 
uation at  Detroit,  were  soon  aroused  to  the  highest  sense  of  patri- 
otic determination.  The  governor  of  Ohio  at  once  ordered  the.  re- 
maining portion  of  the  detached  militia  of  his  State,  numbering 
some  twelve  hundred  men,  to  be  formed  and  marched  to  Urbana, 
under  command  of  brigadier-general  Tupper ;  while  the  Secretary 
of  War  had  previously  called  on  Governor  Scott,  of  Kentucky,  for 
a  body  of  fifteen  hundred  men,  embracing  also  the  regulars  previ- 
ously enlisted  in  that  State.  In  the  early  part  of  May,  the  governor 
of  Kentucky,  in  accordance  with  instructions  from  the  war  depart- 
ment, had  organized  ten  regiments,  of  some  five  thousand  five  hun- 
dred men,  as  the  quota  of  that  State.  Among  the  many  patriotic 
men  who  so  eagerly  joined  the  standard  of  their  country,  in  Ken- 
tucky, was  Colonel  JOHN  ALLEN,  who  took  command  of  a  rifle  regi- 
ment. He  was  a  lawyer  of  much  distinction  at  the  Kentucky  b.nr, 
and  combined  many  eminent  and  endearing  qualities  as  a  private 
citizen  of  that  State.  Allen  county  was  so  named  after  him. 

After  the'  massacre  of  Chicago,  those  Pottawattamies  engaged  in 
it  spent  some  weeks  about  Fort  Dearborn,  and  divided  the  spoils 
which  had  been  given  them  at  the  time  it  was  forsaken.  They  then 
retired  to  their  villages  on  the  St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan,  where 


THE  SCHEME  FOE  THE  MASSACKE  OP  FORT  WAYNE.          213 

they  were  assembled  in  council  by  British  emissaries,  and  at  their 
instigation  determined  upon  a  simultaneous  movement  to  lay  siege 
to  Forts  Wayne  and  Harrison.  The  British  agents  promised,  that  in 
case  the  Indians  would  besiege  those  forts,  and  prevent  their  evac- 
uation by  the  garrisons,  they  should  be  joined,  in  one  moon,  by  a 
large  British  force  from  Maiden  and  Detroit,  with  artilery,  who 
would  be  able  to  demolish  the  stockades,  and  would  give  up  the 
garrison  to  massacre  and  spoil.  Their  success  in  these  enterprises, 
it  was  but  too  evident,  would  have  exposed  the  whole  frontier  to 
devastation,  and  the  plans  of  Tecumseh  were  all  looking  to  the 
consummation  of  this  end.  The  siege  was  to  be  commenced  in 
twenty  days  after  the  council  adjourned. 

At  this  time,  there  was  an  Indian  trader  residing  near  Fort  Wayne, 
of  French  extraction,  by  the  name  of  Antonie  Bondie.  He  was 
about  fifty  years  of  age,  and  had  lived  among  the  Indians  from  the 
time  he  was  twelve  years  old.  He  was  an  extraordinary  character. 
At  one  time  he  would  appear  to  be  brave  and  generous,  at  another 
meanly  selfish.  He  was  recognized  by  the  Miamies  as  one  of  their 
tribe — married  one  of  their  squaws,  and  conformed  to  their  habits 
and  mode  of  life.  The  hostile  Pottawattarnies,  desirous  of  saving 
him  from  the  destruction  which  they  contemplated  for  the  garrison, 
«ent  Metea,  chief  of  their  tribe,  to  inform  him  of  their  intentions 
and  his  danger.  Metea  went  to  his  cabin  in  the  night,  and  under  an 
injunction  of  great  secrecy,  informed  him  of  all  that  had  transpired 
in  relation  to  the  contemplated  siege  of  the  two  forts.  He  offered 
to  come  for  Bondie  and  his  family,  before  the  siege  was  com- 
menced, with  a  sufficient  number  of  pack  horses  to  remove  them 
and  their  moveable  property  to  a  place  of  safety.  Bondie  did  not 
decline  the  offer. 

The  morning  after  Metea  had  made  this  revelation,  Bondie,  ac- 
companied by  Charles  Peltier,  a  French  interpreter,  went  to  the 
agent  (Stickney)  very  early,  and  with  many  injunctions  of  secrecy, 
informed  him  of  it  all.  The  agent  was  thankiul§for  their  informa- 
tion ;  but  doubtful  whether  to  credit  or  reject  it,  as  any  mistake  in 
a  matter  of  so  much  importance,  either  way,  would  prove  ruinous  to 
his  character,  and  cause  his  disgraceful  ejection  from  the  import- 
ant office  which  he  held.  He  had  been  but  three  months  in  oflico 
or  in  the  country,  and  was  acquainted  with  but  few  persons.  The 
character  of  Bondie  was  not  known  to  him,  and  the  nature  of  his 
communication  suc.h  as  to  require  great  secrecy,  and  if  true,  imme- 
diate preparation  for  the  defence  of  the  fort.  Stickney  sent  a  note 
to  Rhea,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  garrison,  desiring  a  meet- 
ing with  him  in  the  open  esplanade  of  the  fort,  where  there  could  be 
no  one  to  overhear  what  might  be  said.  This  officer  having  been 
long  in  the  country,  had  every  opportunity  of  knowing  Bondie.  He 
met  the  agent,  heard  his  communication,  and  dismissed  it,  by  ob- 
serving that  Bondie  was  a  trifling  fellow,  and  no  reliance  could  be 
placed  upon  what  he  said.  This  increased  the  perplexity  of  the 

' 


214  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

agent.  He  sent  for  Bondie  and  his  interpreter,  to  have  a  cross  ex- 
amination. This  being  completed,  it  remained  for  the  agent  either 
to  pass  the  matter  without  notice,  and  incur  the  chances  of  the 
siege  of  the  Indians  against  the  two  posts,  to  be  followed  by  a  reg- 
ular force  of  British  troops,  with  artillery,  without  any  preparation 
for  defence  or  relief  from  abroad,  or  to  report  the  information, 
without  attaching  to  it  his  official  belief  in  its  correctness,  which 
would  have  no  effect.  In  weighing  and  comparing  chances  and 
consequences,  he  determined  that  it  was  better  that  he  should  be 
ruined  in  his  reputation,  and  the  government  suffer  all  sacrifices, 
consequent  upon  the  falsity  of  the  report,  than  that  they  should 
both  suffer  if  it  proved  true.  He,  therefore,  sent  a  second  time  to 
Capt.  Rhea,  and  declared  his  intention  to  make  the  report,  and  give 
it  the  sanction  of  his  belief  in  its  correctness.  He  informed  him 
that  he  had  just  received  a  dispatch  from  Governor  Harrison,  from 
Vincennes,  saying  that  he  was  going  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  must 
be  addressed,  if  necessary,  and  that  he  should  send 'an  express  to 
him,  directed  to  that  city,  and  another  to  Captain  Taylor,  the  com- 
manding officer  at  Fort  Harrison.  He  then  returned  to  his  office 
and  commenced  making  immediate  preparations  for  acquainting 
Gov.  Harrison  with  the  information  he  had  received  regarding  the 
contemplated  siege  of  the  fort.  When  nearly  ready  to  dispatch 
his  messenger,  Capt.  Rhea  sent  a  note  to  him  requesting  that  he 
would  delay  his  express  to  Cincinnati,  until  he  could  write  a  letter 
Jo  the  governor  of  Ohio,  informing  him  of  the  report.  Stickney 
complied  with  this  request,  and  the  express  was  sent  with  letters  to 
Governor  Harrison  and  Governor  Meigs.  Active  preparations 
were  now  commenced  for  defence.  Such  men  as  could  be  spared 
with  teams  were  employed  to  send  off  ladies  who  were  there,  with 
children,  to  the  frontier;  and  it  was  subsequently  ascertained  that 
within  a  few  hours  after  the  messengers  had  started,  the  Indians 
drew  their  lines  of  guard  around  the  fort. 

On  the  5th  of  August,  Major  Stickney,  the  Indian  agent,  w;;s 
prostrated  by  severe  illness,  from  which  he  only  became  convales- 
cent, after  twelve  days.  He  was  then  conveyed  from  the  agency 
house  to  the  fort  for  safety.  It  was  now  very  plain  that  the  state- 
ment of  Bondie  was  no  fiction.  He,  with  his  Indian  family,  moved 
into  the  fort.  The  Indian  warriors,  to  the  number  of  some  five 
hundred,  as  then  supposed,  began  to  assemble  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  fort;  audit  was  now  evident  that  they  had  hopes  of  getting 
possession  of  it  by  stratagem.  They  would  lie  in  wait  near  the  fort, 
day  after  day, — a  few  near  and  in  sight,  but  the  majority  of  them 
would  be  scattered  about,  as  much  out  of  sight  as  possible.  Those 
near  were  watching  an  opportunity  to  force  the  sentries.  The  sen- 
tinels were  so  faithful  to  their  duty,  that  no  chance  was  presented. 

Stephen  Johnston,  who  was  a  clerk  in  the  United  States  factory 
store,*  feeling  very  solicitous  about  the  safety  of  his  wife,  who  had, 

•\\  lik-h  had  bet-n  erected  near  the  fort,  sometime  subsequent  to  the  civet-ion  of  Fort 
Wayue,  in  1794,  for  the  purpostof  supplying  tiie  Indians  with  agricultural  implements. 


INDIANS  ADMITTED  INTO  THE  FOBT.  215 

been  sent  to  the  frontier  in  a  delicate  situation,  accompanied  by 
Peter  Oliver,  and  a  discharged  militiaman,  attempted  to  elude  the 
vigilence  of  the  Indians,  and  visit  the  place  of  her  abode.  They 
left  at  10  o'clock  at  night.  Johnston  was  fired  upon  by  six  Indians 
and  killed  instantly.  Before  the  Indians  could  reload  their  pieces, 
the  remaining  two  men  made  good  their  retreat  to  the  fort ;  and  for 
a  reward  of  twenty  dollars,  an  Indian  was  induced  to  bring  in  the 
body  of  Mr.  Johnston. 

The  Indians  now  began  to  disclose  their  hostility  and  real  pur- 
poses by  violent  and  premature  acts,  showing  most  conclusively 
their  full  designs.  On  one  occasion  two  soldiers  were  sent  out  on 
horseback,  three  or  four  miles,  to  drive  in  some  cattle.  One  of  them 
was  taken  prisoner,  the  other  made  his  escape.  The  Indians  ob- 
tained possession  of  both  horses.  They  killed  cattle  and  hogs  near 
the  fort,  stole  horses,  and  committed  many  other  minor  depreda- 
tions. 

Both  parties  wished  to  delay  the  final  conflict— Major  Stickney, 
to  give  time  for  Gen.  Harrison  to  send  the  fort  the  necessary  re- 
lief, in  compliance  with  his  dispatch  ;  and  the  Indians,  from  a  hope 
and  expectation  of  the  daily  arrival  of  the  British  force,  which  had 
been  promised  them.  The  Indians,  however,  did  not  cease  to  em- 
ploy many  devices  and  stratagems,  to  accomplish  their  object,  be- 
fore the  arrival  of  the  British.  An  Indian  would  occasionally  come 
near  the  fort,  and  hold  conversation  with  an  interpreter,  who  would 
be  sent  out  for  the  purpose.  The  interpreter  would  be  informed 
that  the  depredations  had  been  committed  by  the  young  men,  con- 
trary to  the  wishes  of  the  chiefs — that  the  chiefs  wished  for  peace. 
At  length  the  Indians  expressed  a  desire  to  be  admitted  to  see  the 
commandant  of  the  post,  that  they  might  agree  upon  some  terms 
for  a  cessation  of  hostilities ;  and  asked  for  a  signal  by  which  they 
might  approach  the  fort  and  be  permitted  to  talk  with  their  white 
father.  A -white  cloth  was  accordingly  sent  to  them  to  be  used  as 
a  flag  of  truce.  For  several  days  they  delayed  making  use  of  the 
flag,  and  continued  their  depredations.  The  agent  finally  sent  a 
message  to  them,  by  an  Indian,  that  they  had  dirtied  his  flag,  and 
he  could  not  suffer  them  to  retain  it  any  longer ;  that  they  must  re- 
turn it  immediately.  The  next  day,  the  whole  body  of  Indians 
moved  up  to  the  fort,  bearing  the  white  flag  in  front.  The  gates 
of  the  fort  had  been  kept  closed  for  a  number  of  days.  They  were 
in  hopes  of  obtaining  the  admission  of  a  large  number  of  their  war- 
riors. But  the  agent,  who  was  still  quite  weak  from  his  recent  at- 
tack, was  too  well  acquainted  with  Indian  character  to  be  deceived. 
Having,  with  difficulty,  walked  to  the  gato,  he  designated  by  name 
the  chiefs  to  be  admitted,  who,  upon  their  entrance  into  the  fort, 
one  by  one,  were  disarmed  by  the  guard,  and  examined  very  close- 
ly. Thirteen  only  were  admitted,  who  at  once  followed  the  agent 
to  his  sleeping  apartment.  The  officers  in  the  garrison  remained 
in  their  quarters.  The  agent  now  addressed  a  note  to  Capt.  Rhea, 


2 lt>  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

desiring  that  the  guard  should  -be  paraded  and  kept  under  arms 
during  the  continuance  of  the  council.  In  accordance  with  the 
customs  of  such  occasions,  tobacco  was  presented  to  the  chiefs  that 
they  might  smoke.* 

When  the  pipes  began  to  go  out,  Winnemac,  a  Pottawattauiie 
chief,  rose  and  commenced  a  speech,  which  he  addressed  to  the 
agent ;  the  substance  of  which  was,  that  the  Pottawattamies  had  no 
hand  in  killing  Johnston,  and  that  the  chiefs  could  not  control  their 
young  men.  The  soldiers  and  horses  had  been  taken  without  the 
knowledge  or  consent  of  the  chiefs,  in  opposition  to  whose  wishes 
the  young  men  had  committed  all  their  depredations.  "But,"  con- 
tinued Winnemac,  "  if  my  father  wishes  for  war,  I  am  a  uian."t  At 
this  expression  the  chief  struck  his  hand  upon  his  knife,  which  he 
had  concealed  under  his  blanket.  The  agent  at  this  time  did  not 
understand  the  language,  but  saw  there  was  something  serious. 
Bondie,  who  was  present  and  understood  the  whole  force  of  what 
was  said,  jumped  upon  his  feet  as  quick  as  lightning,  and  striking 
his  knife  in  a  very  emphatic  manner,  shouted  in  Pottawattamie, 
"  I  am  a  man  too."  At  the  same  instant  the  interpreter  turned  quite 
pale,  and  Winnemac  cast  his  eyes  towards  the  principal  chief  pres- 
ent, whose  name  was  An-ouk-sa,  who  was  sitting  at  a  window 
where  he  could  see  the  guard  under  arms.  He  returned  a  look  of 
disappointment,  and  the  stratagem  was  brought  to  an  abrupt  term- 
ination ;  while  the  interpreter,  having  sufficiently  recovered  from  Ids 
confusion,  readily  explained  what  had  been  said.  Winnemac  now 
finished  his  speech,  and  the  agent  returned  for  an  answer,  that  in  all 
that  had  been  said,  there  appeared  to  be  something  concealed  ;  and 
that  if  it  was  for  war,  he  was  ready  for  it.  The  Indians  having  been 
admitted  under  a  flag  of  truce,  were  now  permitted  to  depart.  Win- 
nemac, however,  who  was  the  last  to  leave  the  room,  was  invited 
by  Capt.  Rhea  to  hi&  quarters,  who  soon  sent  to  the  agent  for  an  in- 
terpreter, and  remained  in  conversation  with  Winnemac,  half  or 
three  quarters  of  an  hour.  The  agent  subsequently  learned,  from 
the  interpreter,  that  Rhea  professed  great  friendship  for  the  chief, 
and  invited  him  to  take  breakfast  with  him  the  next  morning. 
Upon  learning  this,  and  with  a  view  of  dissuading  him  from  such 
intimacy  and  want  of  discretion,  at  such  a 'time,  the  agent  with 
difficulty  walked  to  the  quarters  of  Capt.  Rhea,  whom  he  found  in 
such  a  state  of  intoxication  that  it  was  useless  to  expostulate  with 
him.  Returning  to  his  quarters  again,  he  now  sent  for  the  two  liei  - 
tenants,  Ostrander  and  Curtis,  and  told  them  what  had  taken  place, 

*  In  the  account  of  this  siege  the  writer  has  mainly  followed  the  statement  of  Major 
Stickney,  tlie  Indian  agent  here  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence. 

t  The  whole  plan  of  the  Indians  on  this  occasion  was  subsequently  divulged.  They 
were  to  obtain  an  entrance  into  the  fort,  for  as  many  as  possible.  Winnemue  was  to  be 
the  speaker.  When  he  should  come  to  the  expression,  "  I  am  a  man,"  he  was  to  dis- 
patch the  agent.  Other  chiefs  were  to  rush  to  each  of  the  officers'  quarters,  to  massacre 
them,  and  others  were  to  open  the  gates  of  the  fort,  to  tho  force  without.  The  work 
was  then  to  be  finished,  by  butchering  every  soul  iu  the  fort. 


PERILOUS  ADVENTUBE  OF  WM.  OLIVEE.  217 

giving:  it  as  his  opinion  that  an  attack  would  be  made  the  next 
morning  ;  and  urged  upon  them  the  necessity  of  all  possible  prep- 
aration. 

The  next  morning,  aroused  by  the  firing  of  rifles,  the  agent  step- 
ped out  upon  a  gallery  that  projected  from  the  second  story  of  his 
quarters,  and  saw  two  soldiers  fall,  mortally  wounded,  about  fifty 
yards  from  the  fort.  It  was  now  ascertained  that  no  preparations 
had  been  made  in  anticipation  of  an  attack.  All  was  confusion  in 
the  garrison.  The  two  men  were  taken  into  the  fort,  and  died 
about  one  o'clock,  that  day. 

About  the  first  of  September,  a  most  interesting  occurrence  took 
place.  A  white  man  and  four  Indians  arrived  at  the  fort,  on  horse- 
back, "  in  full  yell."  It  was  the  Indian  yell  of  triumph.  The  white 
man,  who  was  foremost,  proved  to  be  William  Oliver.  He  was  ac- 
companied by  four  friendly  Shawanoe  Indians,  the  brave  Logan 
among  the  number.  The  garrison  had  been  for  more  than  a  fort- 
night in  a  state  of  suspense;  not  knowing  whether  the  express  to 
Gov.  Harrison  had  gotten  through,  or  not,  and  every  day,  in  ex- 
pectation that  the  British  force  would  arrive.  All  were  on  tiptoe 
to  hear  the  news — William  Oliver  had  arrived  in  defiance  of  five 
hundred  Indians — had  broken  through  their  ranks  and  reached  the 
fort  in  safety. 

He  reported  that  about  two  thousand  volunteers  had  assembled 
iii  Kentucky  for  the  relief  of  General  Hull  at  Detroit,  and  had 
marched  to  Cincinnati.  There  they  heard  that  Hull  had  surren- 
dered, and  deemed  it  unnecessary  to  march  any  further  in  that  di- 
rection. Harrison  having  received  the  dispatch  from  the  agent  at 
Fort  Wayne,  had  determined  to  march  to  its  relief.  Ohio  was 
raising  volunteers.  Eight  hundred  were  then  assembled  at  St. 
Mary's,  sixty  miles  south  of  Fort  Wayne.  They  intended  to  march 
to  the  relief  of  the  fort,  in  three  or  four  days.  At  Cincinnati  great 
fears  were  entertained  that  the  fort  had  been  captured,  and  its  in- 
mates massacred.  When  the  question  arose,  as  to  how  the  condi- 
tion of  Fort  Wayne  was  to  be  ascertained,  the  stoutest  hearts  in  the 
army  quailed. 

William  Oliver  was  then  a  young  man  of  about  twenty-three 
years  of  age.  He  possessed  the  true  spirit ;  was  at  the  time  sutler 
to  Fort  Wayne.  Previous  to  any  knowledge  of  the  hostile  inten- 
tions of  the  Indians,  Oliver  had  gone  to  Cincinnati  on  business.  He 
went  to  Governor  Harrison  and  made  an  offer  of  his  services,  indi- 
vidually, to  obtain  the  necessary  information.  Harrison  thought 
the  danger  too  great,  and  endeavored  to  dissuade  him  from  making 
the  attempt ;  but  he  had  determined  to  accomplish  it,  or  loose  his 
life  in  the  effort.  When  Governor  Harrison  shook  hands  with  him, 
lie  observed  that  he  u  should  not  see  him  again." 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Worthington,  an  Indian  commissioner  of 
the  time,  embarked  with  Oliver  in  this  adventurous  undertaking, 
placing  themselves  at  the  head  of  about  eighty  whites,  forty  of 


218  HISTORY  OF  FOBT  WAYNE. 

•\vliom,  so  perilous  seemed  the  task  before  them,  after  a  march  of 
about  three  days,  returned  home.  The  balance,  however,  pursued 
their  way  to  the  Indian  village  of  Waupaukonetta,  where  Oliver 
found  friends  and  acquaintances  among-  some  friendly  Shawanoes, 
and^selected  four  of  the  bravest  to  accompany  them  through  to  Fort 
Wayne,  Logan  among  the  number. 

Having-  pursued  their  course,  with  much  care,  until  within  some 
twenty-four  miles  of  the  fort,  a  council  was  called  to  consider  the 
expediency  of  a  further  advance,  when  it  was  concluded  best  for 
all  to  remain  behind  except  Oliver,  Logan,  and  the  other  Indian  at- 
tendants. On  the  following  morning,  with  their  horses,  they  con- 
tinued their  way  "  with  the  common  wariness  of  Indians,  and  without 
any  remarkable  occurrence  until  they  came  within  some  four  miles 
of  the  fort.  Oliver  had  determined  to  enter  the  fort  in  broad  day- 
light." They  now  began  an  examination  of  the  ground  with  great 
precaution,  determining  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  what  movement 
had  taken  place,  and  the  exact  locality  of  the  Indians. 

The  keen  eye  of  Logan  now  soon  discovered  that  the  enemy  was 
concealed  along  the  road,  with  a  view  to  cut  off  any  reinforcements 
that  might  attempt  to  reach  the  garrison. 

Leaving  the  main  road,  they  now  mov,ed  cautiously  across  to  the 
Maumee  river,  whither,  leaving  their  horses  in  a  thicket,  they  ad- 
vanced on  foot  towards  the  fort,  in  order  to  get  a  view  of  it,  and  to 
ascertain,  if  possible,  whether  it  still  held  out  against  the  besiegers. 
Being  fully  satisfied  on  this  point,  they  again  repaired  to  the  thicket 
where  they  had  left  their  horses,  remounted,  and  soon  struck  the 
main  road  again. 

The  moment  of  greatest  peril  and  determination  had  now  come. 
The  fort  was  to  be  gained  at  the  risk  of  life  itself;  and  putting  whip 
to  their  horses,  Oliver  and  his  faithful  Shawanoe  companions 
started  in  full  speed  for  the  fort.  [  ' 

What  was  most  remarkable,  the  moment  the  scouts  gained  the 
fort  proved  to  be  the  only  safe  one  that  had  for  some  days  presented 
itself,  as  though  a  kind  providence  had  opened  the  way  for  the  safe 
arrival  of  the  party  to  cheer  the  inmates  of  the  perilous  garrison. 

First  reaching  the  gate  of  the  esplanade,  and  finding  it  inacces- 
sible, they  descended  the  river  bank,  and  were  soon  admitted  by 
the  northern  gate. 

Said  one  of  the  lieutenants  of  the  fort:  "The  safe  arrival  of  Oliver 
at  that  particular  juncture  may  be  considered  miraculous.  One 
hour  sooner  or  one  hour  later,  would  no  doubt  have  been  inevitable 
destruction  both  to  himself  and  his  escort.  It  is  generally  believed 
by  those  acquainted  with  the  circumstances,  that  not  one  hour,  for 
eight  days  and  nights  preceding  or  following  the  hour  which  Mr. 
Oliver  arrived,  would  have  afforded  an  opportunity  of  any  safety." 

So  close  was  their  contact  with  the  Indians,  in  this  fearful  ride, 
that  they  even  saw  the  beds  upon  which  they  lay  as  they  main- 
tained their  nightly  guard. 


OLIVER'S  ARRIVAL  AT  FORT  WAYNE.  219 


Entering  the  general  gateway ,which  was  located  about  where  now 
stands  the  residences  of  the  late  Jas.  B.  Hanna,  or  Martin  Knoll,  on 
Wayne  street — the  fort  then,  with  several  acres  of  ground,  being 
enclosed  by  a  substantial  fence — a  few  moments  more,  and  all  was 
safety.  The  fort  was  gained,  the  north  gate  opened,  and  Oliver 
and  his  companions  rode  quickly  in,  to  the  great  astonishment  and 
joy  of  the  little  garrison,  who  eagerly  gathered  about  the  heroic 
riders  to  learn  the  news. 

Oliver's  story  was  soon  told.  When  the  volunteers  of  Ohio,  as- 
sembled at  St.  Mary's,  learned  the  extent  of  the  Indian  force  about 
Fort  Wayne,  they  deemed  it  imprudent  to  advance  with  so  small  a 
force,  and  concluded  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  Kentuckians,  thus 
subjecting  the  garrison  to  a  still  longer  state  of  suspense.  The  anx- 
iety was  intense ;  and  it  was  through  extreme  good  fortune,  and 
mere  accident,  that  the  fort  was  enabled  to  hold  out,  with  so  little 
good  management — "  the  commanding  officer  had  been  drunk 
nearly  all  the  time,  and  the  two  lieutenants  inefficient  men  ;  entirely 
unfit  to  hold  commissions  of  any  grade."  The  non-commissioned 
officers  and  privates,  eighty  in  number,  behaved  very  well.  The 
Indian  agent  was  feeble  and  incapable  of  much  exertion.  Oliver, 
though  a  private  citizen,  was  now  the  most  efficient  man  in  the  fort. 

Having  prepared  a  letter,  announcing  to  General  Harrison  his 
safe  arrival  at  the  fort,  and  its  beleaguered  situation,  Oliver  imme- 
diately started  his  Shawanoe  companions  back  with  the  letter  to 
Worthington,  while  he  determined  to  take  his  chances  with  the  oc- 
cupants of  the  fort. 

Seeking  an  opportune  moment,  Logan  and  his  companions  left 
the  fort  safely,  but  were  soon  observed,  and  pursued.  Their  exul- 
tant shouts,  however,  soon  revealed  to  the  inmates  of  the  garrison 
that  they  had  outstripped  their  pursuers  and  passed  the  lines  un- 
harmed. • 

The  Indians  now  again  begun  a  furious  attack  upon  the  fort,  but 
the  little  garrison  bravely  met  the  assault,  and  were,  in  a  few  days 
more,  enabled  to  hail  the  approach  of  the  army. 

The  name  of  Oliver  deserves  to  be  enshrined  in  every  heart. 
Such  heroism  is  seldom  met  with,  and  who  among  us  to-day  can 
fail  to  cherish  a  kindly  memory  and  regard  for  so  valiant  and  self- 
devotional  a  spirit  as  the  brave,  determined  WILLIAM  OLIVER  ? 

At  Cincinnati,  the  Kentucky  volunteers  elected  Gov.  Harrison  to 
command  them  as  a  major-general.  When  he  received  the  infor- 
mation from  Oliver  that  Fort  Wayne  was  in  existence,  he  took  up 
the  line  of  inarch  for  the  scene  of  the  beleagured  garrison. 

The  faithful  Shawanoes  met  the  advancing  army  at  Piqua,  Ohio, 
where  the  message  of  Oliver  was  readily  delivered  to  Gen.  Harri- 
son, who  at  once  drew  his  men  together,  and  made  them  a  speech. 
Said  he,  in  part :  u  If  there  is  a  man  under  my  command  who  lacks 
the  patriotism  to  rush  to  the  rescue,  he,  by  paying  back  the  money 
received  from  the  government,  shall  receive  a  discharge,  as  I  do  not 


220     .  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

wish  to  command  such."  But  one  man  responded  to  the  proposi- 
tion. His  name  was  Miller,  of  the  Kentucky  militia;  and  having 
obtained  his  discharge,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  his  comrades 
riot  willing  to  let  him  return  without  some  special  manifestion  of 
their  appreciation  of  his  course,  put  him  on  a  rail,  carried  him 
around  the  lines  to  the  music  of  the  Rogue's  March,  and  down  to 
the  Miami,  where  they  took  him  oft'  the  rail  and  let  him  into  the 
water  and  baptized  him  in  the  name  of  "  King  George,  Aaron  Burr, 
and  the  Devil."  As  he  came  out  of  the  water  the  men  stood  on  the 
bank  and  threw  handsful  of  mud  on  him,  then,  forming  into  two 
lines  in  an  adjacent  lane,  made  him  run  the  gauntlet,  each  one 
throwing  a  handful  of  dirt  on  him,  and  then  let  him  go. 

Soon  after  this  event,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  the  army  began 
its  march  for  Fort  Wayne,  encamping  that  evening  in  the  woods-, 
some  twelve  miles  from  Piqua.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  7th, 
(Monday)  the  army  resumed  its  march.  This  day,  says  one  of  their 
number,*  "  we  made  fifteen  miles,  and  encamped  on  a  branch, 
three  and  a  half  miles  this  side  of  St.  Mary's  river.  Next  morning 
a  melancholy  accident  happened.  In  the  act  of  receiving  the 

guard  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Thomas  Polly,  a  sergeant  in 
aptain  Megowan's  company,  was  shot  by  the  accidental  discharge 
of  a  gun  in  the  hands  of  a  sentinel  by  the  name  of  Thos.  Hamilton. 
The  ball  entered  the  left  side,  below  the  nipple,  and  passed  out 
near  the  backbone,  perforating  the  lungs.  We  carried  him  on  a 
litter  to  St.  Mary's,  where  he  lingered  till  the  next  day.  This  was 
the  first  death  that  had  occurred  during  our  march.  This  day,  Sept. 
8th,  we  only  marched  to  St.  Mary's,f  where  we  lay  till  next  day. 
On  this  evening  we  were  joined  by  two  hundred  mounted  volun- 
teers, under  Col.  Richard  M.  Johnson,  who  had  volunteered  for 
thirty  da}7s,  on  hearing  that  Fort  Wayne  was  besieged.  Wednes- 
day, Sept.  9th,  we  marched  eighteen  miles,  to  what  was  called 
Shane's  Crossing  of  St.  Mary's.  Here  we  overtook  a  regiment  of 
eight  hundred  men  from  Ohio,  under  Cols.  Adams  and  Hawkins, 
who  had  started  on  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Wayne.  On  arriving  at 
this  place,  an  Indian,  of  the  Shawanoe  tribe,  a  half  blood,  by  the 
name  of  Logan,  (who  had  been  taken  when  a  small  boy  by  Gen. 
Benjamin  Logan,  of  Lincoln  county,  Kentucky,  and  raised  by  him, 
but  who,  after  arriving  at  maturity,  had  gone  back  and  joined  his 
tribe)  with  four  others,  offered  his  services  to  Gen.  Harrison  as  spies, 
which  he  accepted." 

Logan  was  a  remarkable  Indian,  and  had  early  merited  the  es- 
teem and  confidence  of  the  whites.  Was  some  six  feet  in  height, 
with  robust  form,  broad  shoulders,  'and  prominent  forehead.  AVas 
greatly  attached  to  General  Harrison,  and  a  warm  friend  to  the 

*  John  T).  White,  of  La-wrenceburgh,  Ind. 

f  At  this  point  sonic  block-houses  were  built  for  the  security  of  provisions  and  pro- 
tection of  the  sick.  This  point  had  previously  been  kno\vn  a's  Girty  Town,  doubtless 
after  the  famous  Simon  Girty. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  ARMY  IN  ITS  MARCH  TO  FOKT  WAYNE.      221 

American  cause,  for  which  he  did  much  valuable  service  as  a  guide 
and  spy. 

Continues  White :  "  Previous  to  our  arrival,  Logan  had  gone  on 
in  disguise,  and  passing  through  the  camp  of  the  besieging  party, 
had  ascertained  their  number  to  be  about  fifteen  hundred.  Logan 
also  went  to  the  fort,  and  encouraged  the  soldiers  to  hold  on,  as  re- 
lief was  at  hand.  On  this  night,  (the  9th)  the  sentinels  fired  at  what 
they  imagined  to  be  Indians,  but,  on  examination,  next  morning,  an 
old  horse  was  found  shot,  having  strayed  outside  the  carnp.  Thurs- 
day morning  we  marched  early.  Cols.  Adams  and  Hawkins  hav- 
ing waited  several  days  to  come  up,  (after  ascertaining  the  superi- 
ority of  the  enemy's  forces)  joined  our  army,  and  we  all  marched 
together.  We  now  had  about  three  thousand  five  hundred  men. 
We  marched  ten  miles  and  encamped.  Nothing  occurred  of  any 
interest.  Friday  morning  we  were  under  marching  orders  after 
early  breakfast.  It  had  rained,  and  the  guns  were  damp.  We 
were  ordered  to  discharge  them,  and  re-load,  as  we  were  then  get- 
ting into  the  vicinity  of  the  enemy,  and  knew  not  how  soon  we  might 
be  attacked.  A  strong  detachment  of  spies  under  Captain  James 
Sugget,  of  Scott  county,  marched  considerably  ahead  of  the  army. 
Indications  of  the  enemy  having  advanced  from  their  position  at 
Fort  Wayne,  for  the  purpose  of  watching  the  movements  of  our 
army,  were  manifest,  and  Captain  Sugget  came  upon  the  trail  of  a 
large  party,  which  he  immediately  pursued.  After  following  the 
trail  some  distance  he  was  fired  on  by  an  Indian,  who  had  secreted 
himself  in  a  clump  of  bushes,  so  near  to  Sugget  that  the  powder 
burnt  his  clothes,  but  the  ball  missed  him.  The  Indian  jumped 
from  his  covert  and  attempted  to  escape,  but  Andrew  Johnson,  of 
Scott,  shot  him.  At  the  crack  of  the  gun,  the  Indian's  gun  and 
blanket  fell.  Supposing  that  he  had  killed  him,  and  being  eager 
in  pursuit  of  the  trail,  they  made  no  halt ;  but  before  they  could 
overtake  the  Indians,  they  had  to  give  up  the  pursuit,  on  ac- 
count of  the  lateness  of  the  hour  and  the. distance  they  were  ahead 
of  the  army.  On  returning  to  where  the  Indian  was  shot,  they 
found  the  gun  and  blanket,  but  he  had  escaped.  They  followed 
the  blood  for  some  distance  and  found  pieces-of  his  handkerchief, 
which  he  had  cut  into  plugs  to  stop  the  blood,  but  he  had  bleed  so 
profusely  that  it  had  forced  them  out  of  the  wound.  On  abandon- 
ing the  pursuit  of  the  wounded  Indian,  the  party  returned  to  the 
camp.  We  had  marched  about  fifteen  miles,  and  encamped  an 
hour  before  Sugget's  party  arrived.  Logan  held  up  the  bloody 
blanket  and  exhibited  it  as  he  rode  along  the  line.  Plaving  repaired 
to  Gen.  Harrison's  marque,  orders  were  immediately  issued  for  the 
troops  to  turn  out  and  make  a  breastwork  around  the  encampment, 
which  order  was  promptly  obeyed,  and  before  dark  the  same  was 
fortified  by  a  breastwork,  made  by  cutting  down  trees  and  piling 
them  on  each  other.  A  strong  picket  guard  was  detailed  and  posted 
at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  line.  After  tattoo,  at  9  o'clock, 


222  HISTORY  OP  FORT  WAYNE. 

we  lay  down.  After  which  the  officer  of  the  night  came  round  to 
give  us  the  watchword,  which  was  '  fight  on.'  (The  watchword  is 
given  to  the  sentinel  as  well  as  to  the  army,  in  order,  that,  in  case 
of  a  night  attack,  and  the  sentinels  having  to  run  into  camp,  may  be 
distinguished  from  the  enemy  by  it.)  Orders  were  given,  that  in 
case  of  two  guns  being  fired  in  quick  succession,  the  soldiers  were 
to  repair  to  the  breastwork.  From  every  indication  we  had  strong 
reasons  for  believing  that  we  would  be  attacked  before  day.  We 
lay  with  our  guns  in  our  arms  and  cartridge  boxes  under  our  heads. 
About  10  o'clock,  just  as  the  soldiers  were  in  the  enjoyment  of 
'  tired  nature's  sweet  restorer,'  they  were  aroused  by  the  firing  of 
two  guns  by  the  sentinels,  and  the  drums  beat  the  alarm.  In  a  mo- 
ment all  were  at  the  breastwork,  ready  to  receive  the  enemy.  Just 
about  this  time  some  fifty  guns  were  fired  by  the  sentinels,  and 
some  came  running  in  hallooing  at  the  top  of  their  voices,'  fight  on ;' 
and,  notwithstanding  we  had  orders  not  to  speak  the  watchword, 
the  cry  of '  fight  on '  went  entirely  around  the  lines.  If  there  had 
been  an  attack,  and  the  enemy  had  understood  English,  it  would 
have  afforded  them  the  advantage  of  getting  into  the  lines  by  giv- 
ing the  watchword. 

"  The  Indians  were  around  us,  and  we  were  in  momentary  ex- 
pectation of  an  onset.  At  last  all  was  calm  again,  and  we  were 
permitted  to  rest.  But  just  as  we  were  in  the  sweet  embraces  Of 
sleep,  we  were  again  aroused  by  the  firing  of  a  number  of  guns, 
and  again  we  were  as  prompt  in  repairing  to  our  posts.  We  now 
stood  a  considerable  time,  and  all  became  quiet  again,  when  we 
were  ordered  to  count  off  one,  two,  three,  and  every  third  man  was 
made  to  stand  at  the  breastwork,  and  the  rest  were  permitted  to  re- 
tire to  their  tents.  At  length  day  dawned,  and  the  guards  were 
relieved.  We  ascertained  afterward,  from  Indians  taken  prisoners, 
that  they  came  from  their  encampment  with  the  design  of  making 
a  night  attack  on  us,  but  on  finding  us  so  well  prepared  to  receive 
them,  they  declined  prosecuting  their  designs. 

"  Without  being  able  to  get  round  the  entire  encampment  before 
daylight  of  the  morning  of  the  9th,  the  Indians  returned  to  their 
own  lines  with  the  word  that  '  Kentuck  was  coming  as  numerous 
as  the  trees.' 

"  Lieut.  Munday,  of  Kuley's  company,  of  Madison  county,  Ky., 
and  Ensign  Herring,  of  Hart's  company,  of  Lexington,  being  offi- 
cers of  the  guard,  both  left  their  guard  fires,  and  ran  in  when  the 
firing  commenced.* 

"  Saturday,  September  10th.  we  expected  to  reach  Fort  Wayne, 
but  thought,  in  all  probability,  we  should  have  to  fight  our  way, 
for  the  Indians  lay  at  what  was  called  the  Black  Swamp,  five  miles 
on  this  side  of  the  fort,  immediately  on  our  road.  We  started  alter 

*  Charges  of  cowardice  having  been  preferred  against  these  two  officers,  after  the  ar- 
rival of  the  army  at  Fort  Wayne,  a  court  martial  was  ordered  for  their  trial.  Munday 
resigned  and  went  home.  Herring  proved  that  he  stood  his  ground  till  the  whole  guard 
had  left  him,  and  was  therefore  acquitted. 


AKBIVAL  of  THE  AKMY  AT  FORT  WAYNE.  223 

early  breakfast  (if  a  few  bare  bones,  boiled  in  water,  could  be 
called  a  breakfast)  and  marched  with  much  caution.  From 'St. 
Mary's  we  had  moved  in  two  lines,  one  on  the  right,  and  the  other 
on  the  left  of  the  road,  at  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  yards 
therefrom,  while  the  wagons  kept  ilie  road.  Sugget's  spies  went 
ahead,  and  on  coming  to  where  they  had  left  the  trail  of  the 
wounded  Indian,  they  again  took  it,  and  after  following  it  a  short 
distance,  found  his  dead  body.  When  he  found  he  could  not  survive, 
he  broke  bushes  and  covered  himself  over,  and  resigned  to  die.  The 
Indians  believe  that  if  they  lose  their  scalp,  they  will  not  be  per- 
mitted to  enter  the  favorite  hunting  ground  which  their  tradition 
teaches  them  they  are  to  inhabit  after  death.  Hence  they  use  every 
effort  to  prevent  their  enemies  from  getting  the  scalps  of  those  slain 
in  battle ;  and  during  an  engagement  a  number  are  always  em- 
ployed in  carrying  off  the  dead.  A  short  distance  in  advance  of 
their  camp,  at  the  swamp,  the  spies  returned  with  information  that 
they  were  there,  prepared  to  give  us  battle.  A  halt  was  made, 
and  the  line  of  battle  formed.  Col.  Hawkins,  of  the  Ohio  mounted 
volunteers,  had  left  the  lines  and  gone  some  distance  from  the  road. 
Being  partly  concealed  by  a  clump  of  bushes,  one  of  his  men 
taking  him  for  an  Indian*  lired  at  him  and  shot  him  through.  The 
ball  entered  between  the  shoulders  and  came  out  at  the  breast — 
which,  however,  did  not  prove  mortal.  We  again  took  up  the  line 
of  march,  and  in  a  short  time  came  in  sight  of  the  smoke  of  the 
camp  of  the  enemy." 

At  the  first  grey  of  the  morning  of  the  10th  of  September,  the 
distant  halloos  of  the  disappointed  savages  revealed  to  the  anxious 
inmates  of  the  fort  the  glorious  news  of  the  approach  of  the  army. 
Great  clouds  of  dust  could  be  seen  from  the  fort,  rolling  up  in  the 
distance,  as  the  valiant  soldiery,  under  General  Harrison,  moved 
forward  to  the  rescue  of  the  garrison ;  and  soon  after  daybreak,  the 
army  stood  before  the  fort.  The  Indians  had  beat  a  retreat  to  the 
northward  and  eastward,  and  the  air  about  the  old  fort  resounded 
with  the  glad  shouts  of  welcome  to  Gen.  Harrison  and  the  brave 
boys  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky ! 

And  again,  as  on  former  occasions,  "  the  Key  of  the  northwest " 
had  unlocked  the  great  door  of  success ;  and  the  country,  though 
not  yet  through  with  its  trials  and  conflicts  with  a  wily  and  relent- 
less foe,  was  safe,  and  destined  soon  to  triumph  over  every  obstacle. 
The  prophetic  words  of  Washington,  years  before,  were  again 
most  fully  realized;  and  the  scene  of  the  Miami  village,  more  surely 
than  ever,  pointed  to  "  a  most  important  post  for  the  Union." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


All  was  flight,  and  for  miles  around, 
No  red  man  was  to  be  round. 


Plight  of  the  Indians  on  the  approach  of  the  army — The  Port  besieged  tell  or 

days — Wooden  cannon  made  by  the  Indians— The  little  village  around  the  fort 
destroyed— The  occupants  of  the  houses  about  the  fort  seek  afe^y  in  the  fori, — The 
fort  able  to  hold  out  against  the  Indians  still  longer — The  old  well  of  the  fon; — • 
Captain  M'Afee's  account — His  prophecy  and  that  of  Captain  Wells  as  to  the  fu- 
ture of  Fort  Wayne— Loss  in  the  fort  during  the  siege — Shoocing  an  Indian  in  the. 
St.  Mf.ry — Charges  against  Captain  R'nea — Rhea  permitted  to  resign— -The  avmy 
formed  into  two  detachments  to  destroy  the  villages  in  the  region  of  FortWayiio — 
Destruction  of  corn  and  vegetables— The  tomb  of  a  chief— The  village  of  Five 
Medals,  near  where  Goshen,  Inc.,  now  stands — The  tonu)  of  an  Indian  sorceress — 
Evidences  of  British  aid — Return  of  the  divisions  to  the  fori; — Arrival  of  new  re- 
cruits at  Fort  Wayne — A  force  sent  to  destroy  Little  Turtle  Town — The  ground 
now  occupied  by  the  city  01  Fort  Wayne  mainly  cleared  by  order  of  Ganeral  Har- 
rison— An  imposing  scene — All  approach  cut  off— C en.  Harrison's  report — Arrival 
of  Gen.  Winchester  at  Fort  Wayne — Popularity  of  Gen.  Harrison — Winchester  .0 
take  command  of  the  army — Dissatisfaction  amonj,-'the  soldiers  at  the  proposed 
change  of  generals — A  reconciliation— Gen.  Harrison's  return  to  Piqua— An  expe- 
dition against  Detroit — Movements  of  Gen.  Winchester— Indians  discovered — A 
party  surprised,  captured,  and  five  killed. 


INDIANS  had  mainly  fled  the  evening  before  the  arrival 
of  the  army.  Some,  however,  were  courageous  enough  to  re- 
sn^smain  until  within  a  few  moments  before  the  army  reached  the 
;jjr%  fort,  who  "  were  pursued  by  the  Ohio  horsemen,  but  without 
success."  The  fort  had  now  been  closely  besieged  for  ten  or 
twelve  days ;  and  the  Indians,  in  their  efforts  to  capture  it,  had  made 
several  pieces  of  wooden  cannon,  which  they  strengthened  with 
iron  hoops.  Previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  siege,  there 
were  several  dwellings  near  the  fort,  "  forming,"  says  M'Afee,  "  a 
handsome  little  village  ;  but  it  was  now  (on  the  arrival  of  the  army), 
in  ruins,  having  been  burnt  down  by  the  Indians,  together  with  the 
United  States'  factory," 

The  occupants  of  the  dwellings  surrounding  the  fort,  as  the  siege 
began,  sought  refuge  within  the  garrison,  where  they  remained  in 
safety  till  the  army  arrived. 

The  fort,  during  the  siege,  was  well  supplied  with  provisions. 


EARLY  PROPHECY  CONCERNING  FORT  WAYNE.  225 

There  was  a  good  well*  of  water  within  the  enclosure ;  and  they 
had  also  four  small  field  pieces.  With  these  advantages,  unless  at- 
tacked by  a  formidable  British  force,  they  were  well  prepared  to 
oppose  the  efforts  of  the  Indians  for  several  days  longer. 

Of  the  fort,  at  this  period,  which  was  the  same  built  by  order  of 
Gen.  Wayne,  in  1794,  in  connection  with  other  relations  of  this  point, 
Captain  M'Afeef  said  :  "  It  is  delightfully  situated,  on  an  eminence 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Miami  of  the  lakes,  immediately  below 
the  formation  of  that  river  by  the  junction  of  the  St.  Mary's  from 
the  southwest  with  the  St.  Joseph's  from  the  north.  It  is  well  con- 
structed of  block  houses  and  picketing,  but  could  not  resist  a  British 
force,  as  there  are  several  eminences  on  the  south-side,  from  which 
it  could  be  commanded  by  a  six  or  nine  pour:'!<T. 

"This  is  the  place  where  the  Miami  Indians  formerly  had  their 
principal  town  ;  and  here  many  an  unfortunate  prisoner  suffered 
death  by  burning  at  the  stake.  It  was  here  also,  that  Gen.  Harmar 
suffered  his  army  to  be  cut  up  and  defeated  in  detachments  after 
he  had  burnt  the  town  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1790.  For  more  than 
a  century  before  that  time,  it  had  been  the  principal  place  of  ren- 
dezvous between  the  Indians  of  the  lakes,  and  those  of  the  Wabash 
and  Illinois,  and  had  been  much  resorted  to  about  the  year  '56  and 
previously,  by  French  traders  from  Canada.  The  Maumee  is  navi- 
gable for  boats  from  this  place  to  the  lake,  and  the  portage  to  the 
nearest  navigable  branch  of  the  Wabash,  is  but  seven  or  eight 
miles,  through  a  level,  marshy  prairie,  from  which  the  water  runs 
both  to  the  Wabash  and  St.  Marys.  A  canal  at  some  future  day 
will  unite  these  rivers,  and  thus  render  a  toion  at  fort  Wayne,  as 
formerly,  the  most  considerable  place  in  that  country. 

"  The  corn  which  had  been  cultivated  in  the  fields,  by  the  vil- 
lagers, was  nearly  all  destroyed  by  the  Indians ;  the  remains  served 
as  forage  for  the  mounted  corps.  Captain  Wells,  who  was  massa- 
cred at  Chicago,  had  a  handsome  farm  in  the  forks  of  the  river, 
with  some  good  buildings,  which  were  all  destroyed  in  the  general 
devastation." 

During  the  siege,  the  garrison  lost  but  three  men.  From  subse- 
quent information,  it  was  believed  that  the  Indian  loss  was  about 
twenty-live.  Eight  were  seen  to  fall.  One  Indian  was  killed  at  a 
distance  of  three  hundred  yards,  while  standing  in  the  St.  Mary's 
river.  A  soldier  by  the  name  of  King,  with  a  long  heavy  rifle,  fired, 

*  The  traces  of  this  well  are  yet  plainly  to  be  seen.  It  was  near  the  northwest  end  of 
the  fort,  now  to  be  seen  just  at  the  edge  of  the  south  side  of  the  canal. 

+  Author  of  the  "  History  of  the  Late  War  in  the  Western  Country,"  published  in 
1816.  M'Afee  was  here  in  181  3.  It  is  from  this  old  volume  that  the  writer  has  been 


enabled  to  draw  many  vahiable  and  interesting  facts  relating  to  the  early  History  of 


Tday  bo  dug   from  the  lake  to  thi«  locality, 
run — and  that  there  would  aleo  bo  u  lartcc  town  here  some  day — but  he  was  not 
believed,  in  fact,  thought  very  immoderate  in  his  calculations.  (lii) 


HISTOKT  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

and  the  ball  took  effect  in  the  back  of  the  savage,  between  his 
shoulders,  and  he  fell  into  the  water.  This  feat  was  witnessed  by 
the  whole  garrison. 

Immediately  after  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Harrison,  Lieutenants 
Ostrander  and  Curtis,  preferred  charges  against  Capt.  Rhea,  and 
called  upon  Major  Stickney,  the  agent,  as  a  witness.  The  General 
assembled  his  principal  officers  as  a  Board  of  Inquiry,  and  upon  the 
testimony  of  the  agent,  that  Rhea  was  drunk  six  days  during  the 
siege,  the  Board  thought  he  ought  no  longer  to  hold  a  commission. 
Gen.  Harrison,  mainly  because  of  his  advanced  age,  granted  Capt. 
Rhea  the  alternative  of  a  resignation,  (which  he  complied  with,) 
to  take  effect  the  first  day  of  January  following. 

The  second  day  following  the  arrival  of  the  army  here,  General 
Harrison  formed  his  army  into  two  detachments,  with  a  view  of  de- 
stroying the  Indian  villages  in  the  region  of  country  lying  some 
miles  around  Fort  Wayne,  the  first  division  being  composed  of  the 
regiments  under  Cols.  Lewis  and  Allen,  and  Captain  Garrard's 
troop  of  horse,  under  Gen.  Payne,  accompanied  by  Gen.  Harrison. 
The  second  division,  under  Col.  Wells,  accompanied  by  a  battalion 
of  his  own  regiment,  under  Major  Davenport,  (Scott's  regiment,) 
the  mounted  battalion  under  Johnson,  and  the  mounted  Ohio  men 
under  Adams. 

In  order  that  their  means  of  subsistence  might  also  be  cut  off,  it 
was  determined,  while  destroying  the  Indian  villages  in  the  region, 
to  cut  up  and  destroy  their  corn  and  other  products. 

After  a  march  of  a  few  miles,  the  troops  under  Payne  came  to 
the  Miami  villages,  at  the  forks  of  the  Wabash,  where,  finding  the 
villages  abandoned,  the  troops  were  ordered  to  cut  up  the  corn  and 
destroy  the  vegetables  in  the  field  adjacent.  At  this  point,  says 
M'Afee's  account  of  the  expedition,  was  observed  "  the  tomb  of  a 
chief,  built  of  logs,  and  bedaubed  with  clay."  This  chief  "  was  laid 
on  hfs  blanket,  with  his  gun  and  his  pipe  by  his  side,  a  small  tin 
pan  on  his  breast,  containing  a  wooden  apoon,  and  a  number  of  ear- 
rings and  brooches — all  deemed  necessary,  no  doubt,  on  his  jour- 
ney to  the  other  world." 

On  the  IGth  of  September,  the  body  under  Col.  Wells  had  ad- 
vanced to  the  Pottawattamie  village,  known  as  Fiye  Medals,  on  the 
Elkhart  river,  in  what  is  now  Elkhart  county,  near  the  town  of 
Goshen.  Having  crossed  the  river,  about  three  miles  above  the 
village,  and  formed  in  order  of  battle,  "  in  a  plain,  thinly  timbered," 
the  division  advanced  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  village,  and  then 
surrounded  it;  but,  to  the  regret  of  all,  the  place  was  found  de- 
sorted,  the  Indians  having  abandoned  it  two  days  before,  leaving 
behind  considerable  quantities  of  "  corn,  gathered  and  laid  on  scaf- 
folds to  dry,  with  abundance  of  beans,  potatoes,  and  other  vegeta- 
bles, which  furnished  an  ample  store  of  provisions  for  the  men  and 
forage  for  the  horses.  This  village  was  called  Five  Medals,  from  a 
f  of  that  name,  who  made  it  his  residence.  On  a  pole,  before 


DESTRUCTION  OP  THE  VILLAGE  OF  FIVE  MEDALS.  227 

i 

"  the  door  of  that  chief,  a  red  flag  was  hung,  with  a  broom  tied  above 
it ;  and  on  another  pole  at  the  tomb  of  an  old  women,  a  white  flag 
was  flying-.  The  body  of  the  old  woman  was  entire,  sitting  upright, 
with  her  face  towards  the  east,  and  a  basket  beside  her,  containing 
trinkets,  such  as  owl  and  hawk  bills  and  claws,  a  variety  of  bones, 
r*nd  bunches  of  roots  tied  together ;  all  of  which  indicated  that  she 
had  been  revered  as  a  sorceress.  In  one  of  the  huts  was  found  a 
morning  report  of  one  of  Hull's  Captains,  also  a  Liberty  Hall 
newspaper,  printed  at  Cincinnati,  containing  an  account  of  General 
Harrison's  army.  Several  coarse  bags,  which  appeared  to  have 
contained  shot,  and  pieces  of  boxes  with  London  and  Maiden  printed 
on  them,  were  also  picked  up  in  the  cabin  ;  which  proved  that  these 
Indians  were  intimately  connected  with  the  British,  and  had  been 
furnished  with  information  by  some  one,  perhaps,  in  our  own  coun- 
try. This  village,  with  gome  seventy  acres  of  corn,  was  destroyed, 
and  the  same  evening  the  army,  on  its  return  march,  reached  the 
Elkhart  river;  and  after  a  most  fatiguing  march,  for  those  on  foot, 
and  from  the  effects  of  which  one  man  died  soon  after  the  return  of 
the  division,  the  army  arrived  again  at  the  fort  on  the  18th,  a  few 
hours  after  the  body  under  Payne  had  returned."* 

On  the  day  previous  to  the.  return  of  these  divisions,  (17th),  Col. 
Simrall,  with  a  regiment  of  dragoons,  armed  with  muskets,  and 
numbering  some  three  hundred  and  twenty  men  ;  also  a  company 
of  mounted  riflemen,  under  Col.  Farrow,  from  Montgomery  county, 
Ky.,  had  arrived  at  the  fort ;  and  on  the  same  evening  of  the  return 
of  the  divisions  under  Payne  and  Wells,  Gen.  Harrison  sent  them, 
to  destroy  Little  Turtle  Town,  some  twenty  miles  northwest  of  the 
fort,  with  orders  not  to  molest  the  buildings  formerly  erected  by 
the  United  States,  for  the  benefit  of  Little  Turtle,  whose  friendship 
for  the  Americans  had  ever  been  firm  after  the  treaty  of  Greenville. 

Colonel  Sirnrall  most  faithfully  performed  the  task  assigned  him, 
and  on  the  evening  of  the  19th,  returned  to  the  fort. 

In  addition  to  these  movements,  General  Harrison  took  the  pre- 
caution to  remove  all  the  undergrowth  in  the  locality  surrounding 
the  fort,  extending  towards  the  confluence  of  the  St.  Joseph' and  St. 
Mary,  to  where  now  stands  Budisill's  mill,  and  westward  as  far  as 
St.  Mary,  to  the  point  where  now  stands  the  Fort  Wayne  College, 
thence  south-east  to  about  the  point  of  the,  residence  of  the  late 
Allen  Hamilton,  and  to  the  east  down  the  Maumee  a  short  distance. 
And  so  well  cleared  was  the  ground,  including  a  very  large  part 
of  the  entire  limits  of  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Fort  Wayua, 
that  it  was  said  by  those  who  were  here  at  that  early  day  and  to  a 
later  period,  a  sentinel  "  on  the  bastions  of  the  fort,  looking  west- 
ward, could  see  a  rabbitt  running  across  the  grounds  as  far  as  so 
small  an  object  was  discardable  to  the  naked  eye/' 

The  seclusive  points  were  thus  cut  off,  and  the  Indians  now  had 
no  longer  any  means  of  concealing  their  approach  upon  the  fort; 

*M'Af<?e. 


228  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

and  the  scene  thus  presented  by  the  destruction  of  the  underbrush, 
including  many  trees,  of  some  growth,  was  said  to  have  been  quite 
imposing  indeed.  Some  thirty  or  forty  acres,  of  what  is  now  the  Cole 
farm,  extending  to  the  junction  of  the  rivers,  and  just  opposite  the 
Maumee,  was  then  known  as  the  Public  Meadow,  which,  of  course, 
was  then,  as  it  had  long  before  been,  a  considerable  open  space. 

The  soldiers  were  thus  readily  enabled  to  observe  the  approach 
of  any  hostile  movement  against  the  fort,  and  to  open  the  batteries, 
with  formidable  effect,'  upon  any  advance  that  might  be  made 
against  the  garrison,  from  any  direction. 

General  Harrison  now  made  an  official  report  of  transactions  here 
to  the  War  Department ;  and  about  the  19th  of  September,  Briga- 
dier-general James  Winchester  arrived  at  the  Fort,  with  a  view  of 
taking  command  of  the  first  division  of  Kentucky  troops,  which  had 
early  marched  to  reinforce  the  northwestern  army. 

General  Winchester  had  seen  service  in  the  revolutionary  strug- 
gle, as  an  officer  of  distinction,  and  at  this  period  was  somewhat 
advanced  in  years.  Was  a  man  of  some  wealth,  and  resided  in  the 
State  of  Tennessee,  where  he  is  said  to  have  "  lived  many  years  in 
a  degree  of  elegant  luxury  and  ease,  which  was  not  calculated  to 
season  him  for  a  northern  campaign  in  the  forest." 

General  Harrison  was  ever  a  favorite  with  the  soldiers,  and  there 
was  probably  no  man  in  the  country  at  this  period  who  could  com- 
mand a  greater  amount  of  esteem  from  the  masses,  or  who  could 
move  at  the  head  of  an  army  with  greater  confidence  and  regard 
from  the  soldiers  under  him,  both  officers  and  privates,  than  he 
could ;  and  when  General  Winchester  arrived,  it  was  soon  un- 
derstood that  he  was  to  take  command  of  the  forces.  This  pro- 
duced much  uneasiness  among  the  troops,  not  that  Winchester  was 
by  any  means  an  inferior  officer,  but  that  Harrison  was  the  favorite  ; 
and  the  boys  wanted  him  to  lead  them.  Indeed,  so  great  was  the 
aversion  to  the  change,  that  many  of  the  militia  were  disposed  not 
to  be  under  his  command ;  and  it  was  with  much  difficulty  that 
General  Harrison*  and  the  field  officers  succeeded  in  reconciling 
them  to  the  change  of  officers. 

As  it  is  a  matter  most  essential  that  all  raw  troops  should 
have  the  largest  confidence  in  their  commander,  so  the  militia,  at 
this  particular  juncture  of  affairs,  needed  the  greatest  confidence  in 
their  commanding-general,  and  much  of  this  was  unfortunately  lost 
to  the  men  by  a  change  of  general  officers. 

The  men  being  at  length  prevailed  on  to  march  under  General 
Winchester,  with  the  confident,  belief  that  Gen.  Harrison  would 
sooner  or  later  be  reinstated,  and  again  assume  command  of  them, 

*  Says  M'Afre  :  "  The  troops  had  confidently  expected,  that  General  Harrison  would 
bo  confirmed  in  the  command  ;  and  by  this  time  lie  had  completely  secured  the  coi.fi- 
deuce  of  every  soldier  in  the  army.  He  was  affable  and  couiteous  in  his  manner*,  and 
indefatigable  in  Lis  attention  to  every  branch  of  business.  His  soldiers  seem  to  antici- 
pate the  wishes  of  the  general;  it  -was  only  necessary  to  be  known  that  he  wished  Bom&- 
done,  and  nil  were  anxious  to  risk  their  lives'in  its  accomplishment." 


MOVEMENTS  OF  THE  AKMY  UNDER  GEN.  WINCHESTER.        229 

on  the  19th  of  September,  the  command  of  the  troops,  by  a  gen- 
eral order,  at  the  fort,  were  transferred  to  General  Winchester, 
placing  "  any  part  of  the  infantry  which  he  might  deem  necessary 
to'the  extension  of  his  plans,  at  his  disposal." 

The  same  evening,  after  the  issuance  of  this  order,  Gen.  Harri- 
son started  on  his  return,  towards  Piqua,  to  take  command  of  the 
forces  collecting  in  the  rear;  and  to  arrange  for  a  mounted  expedi- 
tion against  Detroit — intending  thus  to  make  a  coup  de  main  on 
that  point,  marching  by  way  of  a  route  but  little  known,  from  Fort 
Wayne,  up  the  St.  Joseph,  from  thence  to  the  head  waters  of  the 
river  Raisin.  These  troops  consisted  of  three  regiments  from  Ken- 
tucky, under  Barbee,  Payne,  and  Jennings ;  three  companies  of 
mounted  riflemen  from  the  same  State,  under  Captains  lioper,  Ba- 
con, and  Clarke  ;  also  a  corps  of  mounted  men  from  Ohio,  who  had 
rendezvoused  at  Dayton  on  the  15th,  in  obedience  to  a  prior  call 
by  Governors  Meigs  and  Harrison,  which  they  had  made  early  in 
September,  intending  to  employ  them  against  some  Indian  towns, 
the  corps  being  commanded  by  Col.  Findley,  who  had  again  en- 
tered the  service  since  the  surrender  of  GeneralHull  at  Detroit. 

On  the  20th  General  Harrison  met  the  mounted  men  and  the 
regiment  of  Jennings  at  St.  Mary's  (Girty  Town),  the  remainder  of 
the  infantry  being  still  further  in  the  rear.  The  General  having 
left  word  at  the  fort  here  for  Johnson's  battalion  and  Col.  Simrall's 
dragoons,  which  were  not  included  in  General  Winchester's  com- 
mand, to  return  to  St.  Mary's  as  early  as  possible,  Major  Johnson, 
on  the  morning  of  the  20th,  in  accordance  therewith,  took  up  his 
line  of  march,  and  after  an  advance  of  some  twenty  miles,  was  met 
by  orders  from  General  Harrison  to  return  to  Fort  Wayne  again, 
and  there  await  further  orders,  with  his  dragoons,  which  was 
promptly  complied  with,  excepting  ensign  Wm.  Holton,  with  about 
twenty-five  men  of  Captain  Ward's  company,  who,  refusing  to  obey 
orders,  started  to  return  home,  to  Kentucky.  The  next  evening, 
the  remainder  of  the  corps  under  Johnson  reached  Fort  Wayne 
again. 

General  Winchester  had  now  removed  his  camp  to  the  forks  of 
the  Maumee ;  and  early  on  the  22d  of  September,  he  moved  down 
the  north  side  of  that  stream,  over  very  nearly  the  saaie  route  as 
that  by  which  General  Wayne's  army  had  reached  the  Miami  vil- 
lages in  1704,  intending  to  go  as  far  as  Fort  Defiance,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Auglaize,  with  a  view  of  forming  a  junction  there  with  tho 
infantry  in  the  rear,  who  were  to  come  from  the  St.  Marys,  by  way 
of  the  Auglaize, 

Before  leaving  the  forks  of  the  Maumee,  Winchester  issued  the 
following  order : 

"  The  front  guard  in  three  lines,  two  deep  in  the  road,  and  in  Indian  files  on  the 
flnnks  at  distances  of  fifty  and  one  hundred  yards,  as  the  ground  will  admit.  A  fatigue 
party  to  consist  of  one  captain,  one  ensign,  two  sergeants,  and  two  corporals,  with  fil\y 
men,  will  follow  the  front  guard  for  the  purpose  of  opening  the  road.  The  remainder 
of  the  infantry  to  march  on  the  flanks  iu  the  following  order  :  colonc-ls  Wells  and  Al- 


230  HISTOKV  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

Ion's  regiments  on  the  right,  and  Lewis  and  Scott's  on  the  left.  The  general  and  brig- 
ade baggage,  commissaries  and  quartermasters'  stores,  immediately  in  the  rear  of  the 
fatigue  party.  The  cavalry  in  the  following  order:  captain  Garrard  and  twenty  of  his 
men  to  precede  the  guard  "in  front,  and  equally  divided  at  the  head  of  each  line ;  a 
lieutenant  and  eighteen  men  in  the  rear  of  the  whole  army  and  baggage;  the  balance  of 
the  cavalry  equally  divided  on  the  flanks  or  the  flank  lines.  The  regimental  baggage 
wagons  will  fall  according  to  the  respective  ranks  of  their  commanding  officers.  The 
officers  commanding  corps  previous  to  their  inarching  will  examine  carefully  the  arms 
and  ammunition  of  their  respective  corps,  and  see  that  they  are  in  good  order.  They 
will  also  be  particularly  careful,  that  the  men  do  not  waste  their  cartridges.  ]STo  loaded 
muskets  are  to  be  put  in  the  wagons.  One  half  of  the  fatigue  party  is  to  work  at  a 
time,  and  the  others  will  carry  their  arms.  The  wagon  master  will  attend  to  loading 
the  wagons,  and  see  that  the  various  articles  are  put,  in,  in  good  order,  and  that  each 
wagon  and  team  carry  a  reasonable  load.  The  hour  of  march  will  be  9  o'clock  this 
morning.  The  officer  of  the  day  is  charged  with  this  order.  The  line  of  battle  will  be 
the  same  as  that  of  General  Harrison  in  his  last  march  to  Fort  Wayne." 

The  March  down  the  Maumee  was  continued  with  great  precau- 
tion, and  the  camp  strongly  fortified  every  night,  advancing  only 
about  five  and  six  miles  each  day.  Not  many  miles  had  been 
gained  before  a  party  of  Indians  were  discovered,  and  the  signs 
were  strong  that  there  were  many  more  in  the  region.  A  volunteer 
company  of  spies  having  previously  been  organized,  under  Captain 
Ballard,  Lieutenant  Harrison  Munday,  of  the  rifle  regiment,  and 
Ensign  Liggett,  of  the  17th  U.  S.  Infantry,  they  were  usually  kept 
in  advance  to  reconnoiter  the  country.  On  the  25th,  Ensign  Lig- 
gett having  obtained  permission  to  proceed  as  far  as  Fort  Defiance, 
he  was  accompanied  by  four  men  of 'McCracken's  company,  from 
Woodford,  Kentucky.  Late  that  evening,  while  preparing  some 
food,  they  were  discovered  by  a  Frenchman  and  eight  Indians,  who 
surprised  them,  with  a  demand  to  surrender,  being  postively  as- 
sured that  they  would  not  be  hurt,  and  also  be  permitted  to  wear 
their  arms  till  they  entered  the  British  camp.  With  these  condi- 
tions, says  M'Afee's  account,*  they  surrendered ;  but  the  Indians 
and  Frenchman,  as  they  walked  on,  concocted,  in  their  own  lan- 
guage, and  executed  the  following  plan  for  their  destruction :  Five 
of  the  Indians,  each  having  marked  his  victim,  walked  behind  and 
on  one  side  of  the  men,  and,  at  a  given  signal,  fired  upon  them. 
Four  of  them  fell  dead — Liggett  only  escaped  the  first  fire — he 
sprung  to  a  tree,  but  was  shot  also  while  raising  his  gun  to  his 
face.  Next  day,  Captain  Ballard,  with  a  part  of  his  company,  be- 
ing in  advance,  discovered  the  dead  bodies,  and  a  party  of  Indians 
watching  near  them.  He  formed  his  men  for  action,  with  the  Mau- 
mee on  his  right ;  but  not  liking  his  position,  and  perceiving  that 
the  Indians  were  too  strong  for  him,  he  fell  back  two  hundred 
yards,  and  formed  in  a  stronger  position.  The  enemy  supposing 
he  had  fied,  filed  off  from  their  right  flank,  intending  to  surround 
him  on  his  left,  and  cut  off  his  retreat.  He  heard  them  pass  by  on 
his  left  without  discovering  him,  and  then  filed  off  by  the  left  in 
their  rear,  and  by  a  circuitous  route  arrived  safe  at  the  camp. 

Lieutenant  Muuday,  with  another  part  of  the  spies,  presently  hap- 
pened at  the  same  place,  and  discovering  some  Indians,  who  still 

*  "     His.  Late  War  in  V,  <. stern  Country,"  page  135  to  J>ago  152. 


DEFEAT  OF  PLAN  TO  MASSACRE  FOETS  WAYNE  AND  HABRISON.  231 

remained  there,  formed  his  men  and  charged  upon  them,  at  the 
same  time  saluting  them  with  their  own  yelL^They  fled  precipi- 
tately, and  Munday,  on  discovering  their  superior  numbers,  took 
advantage  of  their  panic  to  retreat  himself.  Next'morning,  the 
27th,  Captain  Ballard,  with  the  spies  and  Captain  Garrard's  troop 
of  horse,  accompanied  by  Major  Woolfork,  aid  to  the  general,  and 
some  other  volunteers,  went  forward  to  bury  the  dead.  The  In- 
dians were  still  in  ambush ;  but  Captain  Ballard  expecting  it,  ap- 
proached them  in  a  different  direction,  so  as  to  disconcert  their 
plans.  He  attacked  them  with  a  brisk  fire,  and  Captain  Garrard 
immediately  ordered  a  charge,  on  which  they  fled  in  every  direc- 
tion, leaving  trails  of  blood  from  their  killed  and  wounded. 

These  Indians  were  the  advance  of  an  army  destined  to  attack 
Fort  Wayne,  consisting  of  200  regulars  under  Major  Muir,  with 
four  pieces  of  artillery,  and  about  1000  Indians,  commanded  by 
Elliott.  They  had  brought  their  baggage  and  artillery  by  water 
to  old  Fort  Defiance,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Auglaize,  where  they 
had  left  their  boats  and  were  advancing  up  the  south  side  of 
the  Maumee  towards  Fort  Wayne. 

Upon  the  approach  of  Winchester,  they  threw  their  cannon  into 
the  river,  together  with  their  fixed  ammunition,  and  retreated  in 
great  haste.  Gen.  Winchester  did  not  pursue  them. 

And  thus  the  original  plan  of  the  British  authorities,  at  Detroit 
and  Maiden,  to  take  the  posts  of  Forts  Wayne  and  Harrison,  then 
to  give  them  up  to  massacre,  and  to  turn  about  1500  Indians  loose 
upon  the  frontier,  to  kill  and  lay  waste,  had  now  come  to  defeat. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Again  upon  the  march,  'mid  scenes  of  renown- 
On,  with  heroic  vulor,  to  bloody  Frenchtown, 

*         *         *         »         *         *         »    ' 

Where  brave  ALLKN  fell. 


Situation  of  Fort  Harrison — The  stratagem  for  its  capture — The  Indians,  men,  women, 
and  children,  gathered  there  in  large  numbers — They  ask  for  food,  and  desire  to 
be  admitted  into  the  fort — One  of  the  block-houses  fired — The  Indians  open  fire 
upon  the  fort — A  critical  moment — Two  men,  of  the  fort,  scale  the  picketing — One 
ot  them  killed,  the  other  wounded — Retreat  of  the  Indians — The  garrison  repaired 
— Captain  Taylor  prepares  for  a  siege — Scarcity  of  food — A  messenger  succeeds  in 
passing  the  Indian  lines  at  night — Capfc.  Taylor  breveted  for  his  bravery — His 
force  but  50  men — Force  of  the  Indians  large — The  Indians  exasperated  at  their 
defeat— They  leave  the  locality  of  Fort  Harrison  for  the  "  Pigeon-Roost  settle- 
ment " — Two  men  killed  when  within  two  miles  of  the  settlement — The  settlement 
surprised —  The  massacre — 23  men,  women,  and  children  killed  in  a  few  minutes 
— A  few  only  make  their  escape — The  alarm  given  by  those  making  their  escape — 
A  party  reaches  the  scene  of  the  massacre — The  buildings  burned,  and  the  bodies 
mainly  consumed  by  the  flamts — Burial,  in  one  grave,  of  the  remains — Trail  of  the 
Indians — Dangers  and  sufferings  of  the  pioneers — Zebulun  Collings'  account — 
Regiments  of  Kentucky — Recruits  of  the  regular  army  ordered  to  the  frontier — 
Transportation  of  supplies — report  of  General  Harrison — A  movement  against  the 
British — Logan,  the  Shawanoe  half-breed,  sent  to  take  observations — He  and  his 
party  overpowered — Their  retreat  to  the  camp  of  Gen.  Winchester — Logan  sus- 
pected of  being  in  coinplictity  with  the  enemy — Logan's  feelings  greatly  wound- 
ed— He  resolves  to  prove  himself  true — Logan  and  his  attendants  move  again — 
"  A  prisoner  or  a  scalp  " — They  meet  a  superior  party — Stratagem  of  Logan — A 
detachment  sent  against  the  Indians  on  the  Mississiuiwa — A  sharp  encounter — Loss 
and  flight  of  the  Indians — Tccumseh  in  the  region — Return  of  the  detachment — 
Privations  of  the  army — The  government . and  people  restless — Advance  of  Gen. 
Winchester — Movement  of  troops  under  Lewis  and  Allen  upon  Frenchtown — The 
British  prepare  for  an  attack — Their  advanee  and  attack — The  Americans  over- 

rn ;  i-i-i  i   j  *n •  j i    i i ;  j -  r  xl T_  J • r\ A e 


-Horrible 

slaughter  of  the  wounded  by  the  Indians — Many  burned  alive — Movements  of 
General  Harrison  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers  at  Frenchtown — Confinement  of  Gen. 
Winchester,  Col.  Lewis,  and  Major  Madison  at  Quebec — Sad  feeling  of  the  country 
at  the  disaster  of  Frenchtown — Renewed  efforts,  and  heavy  reinforcements  to  the 
army  of  Harrison.  o 

HILE  the  garrison  here  is  on  the  look-out  for  the  wily 
foe  that  had  now  begun  to  prowl  about  a.gain,  occasionally 
visiting  the  fort  in  the  guise  of  friendship,  and  the  north- 
western  troops  are  engaged  in  active  preparations  for  an 
advance  on  Detroit,  the  attention  of  the  reader  is  turned  again 


OF   FORT    HASBRO!*.  233 

in  the  direct,  pn  of  the  Wabash  and  Fort  Harrison.  Capt.  Zachary 
Taylor  was  in  command  of  this  fort  at  this  period.  Sratagem,  to 
the  time  of  the  siege  here,  had  well-nigh  assumed  an  epidemical 
form  with  the  different  tribes.  It  was  an  ancient  artifice.  It  had 
often  been  resorted  to  as  a  means  of  success,  and  seldom  failed  in 
its  operations,  if  cautiously  engineered.  Occasionally,  however,  a 
Gladwyn,  a  Harrison,  or  a  Johnson  was  met  by  the  Indians,  in  their 
purposes  and  plans,  and  then,  after  a  desperate  effort,  they  usually 
came  to  defeat. 

On  the  3d  of  September,  a  body  of  Wiimebagoes  and  Kickapoos, 
men,  women,  and  children,  had  gathered  about  Fort  Harrison,  and 
desired,  as  on  many  similar  occasions,  at  other  points,  to  be  admit- 
ted into  the  fort,  with  the  pretense  of  holding  a  council — insisting, 
also,  that  they  were  greatly  in  need  of  food. 

Two  men  having  been  killed  on  the  2d,  Capt.  Taylor  at  once  sus- 
pected theitf  'designs,  and  giving  them  something  to  eat,  refused  to 
admit  them.  But  this  did  not  suffice.  They  continued  to  loiter 
about  the  fort,  still  insisting  upon  their  friendship.  On  the  night  of 
the  4th,  their  designs  were  made  fully  manifest.  Setting  fire  to  one 
of  the  block-houses,  a  large  number  of  warriors,  who  had  been  con- 
cealed near  by,  now  opened  a  brisk  fire  upon  the  fort,  which  was 
readily  returned  by  the  garrison.  Several  desperate  charges  were 
made  by  the  Indians,  in  which  an  effort  was  made  to  fire  the  fort 
in  several  places,  and  then  to  enter  by  the  breach ;  but  they  were 
bravely  repulsed  and  entirely  defeated  at  every  side.  "  So  critical 
and  alarming  was  the  situation  of  the  garrison,"  says  M'Afee,  "  that 
two  of  the  men  jumped  over  the  picketing,  preferring  the  chance 
of  escape  through  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  to  the  prospect  of  being 
burnt  or  massacred  in  the  fort;  one  of  whom  was  killed,  and  the 
other  retreated  back  to  the  walls  of  the  fort  after  being  wounded, 
and  concealed  himself  behind  some  old  barrels  till  the  next  morn- 
ing, when  the  Indians  retreated,  though  still  hovering  about  within 
view  of  the  fort  for  seven  or  eight  days  afterwards." 

The  garrison  was  now  repaired  and  strengthened,  and  Captain 
Taylor  prepared  himself  for  a  regular  siege.  The  destruction  of 
the  block-house,  in  which  were  stored  the  provisions  of  the  fort, 
was  severely  felt,  as  it  exposed  the  men  to  the  rigors  of  hunger  in 
the  lack  of  food.  During  the  siege  but  three  men  had  been  killed, 
and  about  that  number  wounded.  A  small  amount  of  corn,  raised 
near  the  fort,  was  their  only  reliance  for  food  for  several  days ; 
while  an  effort  to  dispatch  a  messenger  to  Vincennes  seemed  out 
of  the  question,  until,  at  length,  a  messenger  succeeded  in  passing 
the  Indian  encampment  at  night. 

For  his  valiant  conduct  in  defending  the  fort,  Captain  Taylor  re- 
ceived much  praise,  and  was  therefor  soon  after  breveted  a  major. 
His  force  in  the  garrison  did  not  exceed  fifty  men,  many  of  whom 
were  sick.  The  force  of  the  enemy  was  quite  large,  comprising 


234  HISTOKY  OF  FORT 

about  all  the  Indians  that  could,  at  that  time,  be  coliJcted  in  that 
part  of  the  country. 

Greatly  perplexed  and  exasperated  at  their  failure,  a  large  part 
of  the  Indians  engaged  against  Fort  Harrison,  now  soon  started  for 
a  little  settlement,  known  as  "  the  Pigeon  Roost  settlement,"  at  the 
fork  of  White  river,  in  what  is  now  Scott  county,  in  this  State.  This 
settlement  was  founded  in  1809  ;  embraced  an  opening  of  about  one 
square  mile,  and  was  about  live  miles  distant  from  any  other  set- 
tlement. When  within  about  two  miles  of  the  settlement,  the  In- 
dians discovered  two  men  of  the  same,  who  were  hunting  bee  trees. 
These  were  killed,  and  then  moving  forward  to  the  settlement,  they 
surprised  and  massacred,  in  a  few  moments,  twenty-three  men,  wo- 
men, and  children,  a  few  only  succeeding  in  making  their  escape. 
"  The  children,"  says  M'Afee,  "  had  their  brains  knocked  out  against 
trees,"  etc. 

A  large  party  now  soon  collected,  and  repaired  to>  the  scene  of 
the  massacre,  where  the  bodies,  many  of  them  partially  consumed 
in  the  flames  of  the  ruined  buildings,  were  collected  together,  and 
buried  in  one  grave. 

Many  of  the  Indians  engaged  in  this  massacre,  \vere  Shawanoes, 
and  their  trail  was  followed  for  several  miles,  in  the  direction  of  the 
Delaware  towns,  at  the  head  of  White  river,  but  without  success. 

A  Mr.  Zebulun  Collings,  who  resided  about  six  miles  from  the 
Pigeon-Roost  settlement,  thus  relates  the  dangers  and  vicissitudes 
under  which  he  proscuted  his  farm  labors,  and  lived  from  day  to 
day  during  much  of  those  early  times,  which  will  doubtless  also 
serve  as  an  example  of  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  most  of  the 
pioneers  of  those  early  days.  Says  he :  u  The  manner  in  which  I 
used  to  work,  in  those  perilous  timps,  was  as  follows :  On  all  oc- 
casions I  carried  my  rifle,  tomahawk,  and  butcher-knife,  with  a 
loaded  pistol  in  my  belt.  When  I  went  to  plow,  I  laid  my  gun  on 
the  plowed  ground,  and  stuck  up  a  stick  by  it,  for  a  mark,  so  that  I 
could  get  it  quick  in  case  it  was  wanted.  I  had  two  good  dogs.  I 
took  one  into  the  house,  leaving  the  other  out.  The  one  outside 
was  expected  to  give  the  alarm,  which  would  cause  the  one  inside 
to  bark,  by  which  I  would  be  awakened,  having  my  arms  always 
loaded.  I  kept  my  horses  in  a  stable,  close  to  the  house,  having  a 
port-hole,  so  that  I  could  shoot  to  the  stable  door.  During  two  years 
I  never  went  from  home  with  any  certainty  of  returning — not  know- 
ing the  minute  I  might  receive  a  ball  from  an  unknown  hand ;  but 
in  the  midst  of  all  these  dangers,  that  God  who  never  sleeps  nor 
slumbers,  has  kept  me." 

The  regiments  of  Colonels  Wilcox,  Miller,  and  Barbour,  of  the 
Kentucky  militia,  were  now  on  their  march  to  Vincennes,  but  they 
did  not  arrive  in  time  to  meet  the  Indians  at  Fort  Harrison.  Col. 
Russell  being  advised  of  its  critical  situation,  collected  some  com- 
panies of  rangers  and  Indiana  militia,  and,  by  forced  marches,  ar- 
rived there  on  the  13th,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  garrison,  who  were 


TRANSPORTATION  OF  SUPPLIES.  235 

in  a  starving  condition.  Several  wagons  with  provisions  were  now 
ordered  up  to  the  fort,  under  an  escort  of  13  men,  commanded  by 
lieutenant  Fairbanks,  of  the  regulars.  After  Colonel  Russell  had 
met  and  passed  this  party  on  his  return,  they  were  surprised  and 
literally  cut  to  pieces  by  the  Indians,  two  or  three  only  escaping. 
Major  M'Gary,  with  a  b.attalion  of  Colonel  Barbour's  regiment,  was 
at  the  same  time  on  his  way  with  provisions  for  the  garrison ;  and 
being  reinforced  with  some^foilnpanies  of  Russell's  rangers,  they 
arrived  in  safety  at  the  fort,  Having  buried  the  mangled  remains  of 
the  regulars  on  their  way.  In  the  Illinois  and  Missouri  Territories, 
depredations  had  also  been  committed  by  the  Indians.  Governor 
Edwards,  of  the  Illinois  Territory,  had  been  very  attentive  to  these 
matters.  He  had  sent  spies  into  the  Indian  country,  by  whom  he 
had  ascertained,  that  they  were  greatly  elated  with  their  success 
and  the  prospect  of  driving  the  white  people  over  the  Ohio  river, 
and  were  determined  to  carry  on  a  desperate  war  against  the  fron- 
tiers in  the  month  of  September.  To  meet  the  emergency,  he  had 
called,  under  authority  from  the  war  department,  on  the"  governor 
of  Kentucky  for  a  regiment  of  men ;  and  Colonel  Barbours  regi- 
ment had  been  ordered  by  Governor  Shelby  to  march  to  Kaskas- 
kia  ;  but  General  Gibson,  the  acting  governor  of  Indiana,  ordered  it 
to  Vincennes  when  Fort  Harrison  was  in  danger,  conceiving  that  he 
was  authorized  to  take  such  a  step,  as  the  lieutenant  of  Governor 
Harrison,  who  was  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  forces  in  those 
Territories.  Governor  Edwards,  though  deprived  of  this  aid,  made 
vigorous  exertions  to  defend  his  settlement.  He  embodied  a  portion 
of  the  militia,  which  he  held  in  readiness  to  act  whenever  danger 
might  present.  Several  companies  of  rangers  were  also  encamped 
on  the  Mississippi,  above  St.  Louis,  and  on  the  Illinois  river.  These 
troops  served  to  keep  the  savages  in  check  in  those  regions.* 

General  Harrison  continued  his  headquarters  at  Franklinton  and 
Delaware,  for  the  most  part  employing  himself  in  the  superintend- 
ence of  supplies,  and  early  in  October  he  ordered  "  all  the  recruits 
of  the  regular  army  in  the  western  States  to  be  marched  to  the 
frontiers. 

For  several  months  the  army  was  now  chiefly  engaged  in  the 
transportation  of  supplies  over  the  different  routes  they  had,  or 
were  sooner  or  later  to,  march.  In  this  relation  many  difficulties 
arose,  which  were  most  fully  set  forth  by  General  Harrison  at  the 
time,  in  his  report  to  the  President  and  war  department.  On  the 
22d  of  October,  he  said :  "  I  am  not  able  to  fix  any  period  for  the 
advance  of  the  troops  to  Detroit.  It  is  pretty  evident,  that  it  can- 
not be  done,  on  proper  principle,  until  the  frost  shall  become  so  se- 
vere as  to  enable  us  to  use  the  rivers  and  the  margin  of  the  lake, 
for  the  transportation  of  the  baggage  on  the  ice.  To  get  supplies 
forward,  through  a  swampy  wilderness  of  near  two  hundred  miles, 
in  wagons  or  on  packhorses,  which  are  to  carry  their  own  provis- 

*  M'Afce. 


236  HISTOBY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

» 

ions,  is  absolutely  impossible"  The  object,  said  he,  "can  be  ac- 
complished by  using  the  margin  of  the  lake  as  above  mentioned,  if 
the  troops  are  provided  with  warm  clothing,  and  the  winter  is  such 
as  it  commonly  is  in  this  climate."  "  No  species  of  supplies  are 
calculated  on  being  found  in  the  Michigan  Territory.  The  farms 
upon  the  river  Raisin,  which  might  have  afforded  a  quantity  of 
forage,  are  nearly  all  broken  up  and  destroyed.  This  article,  then, 
as  well  as  the  provisions  for  the  mentis  to  be  taken  from  this  Stale 
— a  circumstance  which  must  at  once-  put  to  rest  every  idea  for  a 
land  conveyance  at  this  season — since  it  would  require  at  least  two 
wagons  with  forage,  for  each  one  that  is  loaded  with  provisions  and 
other  articles." 

The  most  important  events,  of  a  military  character,  that  had 
transpired,  up  to  the  22d  of  November,  were  a  somewhat  success- 
ful, though  perilous  movement  upon  a  party  of  British  and  Indians 
at  the  Rapids,  by  a  small  body  of  troops  under  General  Tupper, 
wherein  the  former  were  mainly  put  to  night,  but  after  the  retreat 
of  the  British  and  many  of  the  Indians, — a  few  of  Tapper's  men 
having  uuthoughtedly  given  chase  to  a  number  of  hogs  for  a  dis- 
tance of  half  a  mile  from  the  main  body, — four  of  them  were  killed 
by  the  Indians.  The  British  and  Indians  now  fell  back  upon  the 
river  Raisin. 

Soon  after  this  movement,  Capt.  James  Logan,  the  faithful  Shaw- 
anoe  chief,  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  in  connection  with 
the  army  in  its  efforts  to  succor  the  fort  here,  in  the  early  part  of 
September,  by  orders  from  General  Harrison,  had  proceeded  with 
a  small  number  of  his  tribe,  to  make  observations  in  the  direction 
of  the  Rapids.  Having  met  and  been  closely  pursued  by  a  supe- 
rior force,  when  near  that  point,  he  and  his  men  were  obliged  to 
disperse  and  retreat ;  and  Logan,  with  but  two  of  his  comrades — 
Capt.  John  and  Bright-Horn — succeeded  in  reaching  the  camp  of 
Gen.  Winchester,  where  he  faithfully  recounted  what  had  occurred. 
There  were  some  persons  in  the  camp,  however,  who  suspected  him 
of  having  been  in  complicity  with  the  enemy,  and  so  intimated, 
greatly  to  the  displeasure  and  mortification  of  Logan,  who  at  once 
determined  to  refute  the  charge  by  a  still  further  manifestation  of 
his  fidelity  to  the  American  cause. 

Accordingly,  on  the  22d  of  November,  accompanied  by  Capt. 
John  and  Bright-Horn,  he  started  a  second  time  in  the  direction  of 
the  Rapids,  resolved  to  bring  in  a  prisoner  or  a  scalp.  Having 
proceeded  down  the  north  side  of  the  Maumee,  about  ten  miles, 
they  met  with  a  British  officer,  the  eldest  son  of  Col.  Elliott,  and  five 
Indians.  Four  of  them  being  on  horseback,  and  too  strong  for 
them,  and  having  no  chance  of  escape,  Logan  at  once  determined 
to  pass  them  under  the  pretense  of  friendship  and  a  desire  to  com- 
municate to  the  British  certain  information.  With  this  determina- 
tion, they  confidently  advanced  to  the  party,  one  of  whom  proved 
to  be^Winnemac,  the  Pottawattamie  chief,  with  whom  the  reader 


DEATH  OF  LOGAN,  THE  SHAWANOE  GUIDE  AND  SPY.          237 

is  already  familiar,  who  unfortunately  knew  Logan  well,  and  was 
fully  aware  of  his  regard  for  and  adherance  to  the  American  cause. 
But,  nevertheless,  Logan  persisted  in  his  first  course,  telling  them 
he  was  on  his  way  to  communicate  with  the  British.  After  a  con- 
versation of  some  time  with  them,  they  moved  toward  the  British 
lines,  whereupon  Winnemac  and  his  companions  turned  and  fol- 
lowed them,  desiring  to  accompany  them  thither.  As  they  trav- 
eled on  together,  says  M'Afee,  Winnemac  and  his  party  closely 
watched  the  others,  and  when  they  had  proceeded  about  eight 
miles,  he  proposed  to  the  British  officer  to  seize  and  tie  them.  The 
officer  replied  that  they  were  completely  in  his  power ;  that  if  they 
attempted  to  run,  they  could  be  shot ;  or  failing  in  that,  the  horses 
.could  easily  run  them  down.  This  consultation  was  overheard  by 
Logan ;  he  had  previously  intended  to  go  on  peaceably  till  night, 
and  then  make  his  escape ;  but  he  now  formed  the  bold  design  of 
extricating  himself  by  a  combat  with  double  his  number. 

Having  signified  his  resolution  to  his  men,  he  commenced  the  at- 
tack by  shooting  down  Winnemac  himself.  The  action  lasted  till 
they  had  fired  three  rounds  apiece,  during  which  time,  Logan  and 
his  brave  companions  drove  the  enemy  some  distance,  and  separa- 
ted them  from  their  horses.  By  the  first  fire,  both  Winnemac  and 
Elliott  fell ;  by  the  second  a  young  Ottawa  chief  lost  his  life  ;  and 
another  of  the  enemy  was  mortally  wounded  about  the  conclusion 
of  the  combat,  at  which  time  Logan  himself,  as  he  was  stooping- 
down,  received  a  ball  just  below  the  breast  bone;  it  ranged  down- 
wards and  lodged  under  the  skin  on  his  back.  In  the  mean  time, 
Bright-Horn  was  also  wounded,  by  a  ball  which  passed  through  his 
thigh.  As  soon  as  Logan  was  shot,  he  ordered  a  retreat ;  himself 
and  Bright-Horn,  wounded  as  they  were,  jumped  on  the  horses  of 
the  enemy  and  rode  to  Winchester's  camp,  a  distance  of  twenty 
miles  in  five  hours.  Captain  John,  after  taking  the  scalp  of  the 
Ottawa  chief,  also  retreated  in  safety  and  arrived  at  the  camp  next 
morning. 

Logan  had  now  rescued  his  character,  as  a  brave  and  faithful 
soldier,  from  the  obloquy  which  had  unjustly  been  thrown  upon 
him.  But  he  preserved  his  honor  at  the  expense  of  the  next  best 
gift  of  Heaven — his  life.  His  wound  proved  mortal.  He  lived 
two  days  in  agon}',  which  he  bore  with  uncommon  fortitude,  and 
died  with  the  utmost  composure  and  resignation.  "  More  firmness 
and  consummate  bravery  has  seldom  appeared  on  the  military 
theatre,"  said  Winchester,  in  his  letter  to  the  commanding  general. 
"  He  was  buried  with  all  the  honors  due  to  his  rank,  and  with  sor- 
row as  sincerely  and  generally  displayed,  as  I  ever  witnessed," 
said  Major  Hardin,  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Shelby.  His  physiog- 
nomy was  formed  on  the  best  model,  and  exhibited  the  strongest 
marks  of  courage,  intelligence,  good  humor  and  sincerity.  It  was 
said  by  the  Indians,  that  the  British  had  offered  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  for  his  scalp.  He  had  been  very  serviceable  to  our 


238  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

cause  by  acting  as  a  guide  and  spy.  He  had  gone  with  General 
Hull  to  Detroit,  and  with  the  first  Kentucky  troops,  who  marched 
to  the  relief  of  Fort  Wayne. 

Captain  Logan,  it  Mill  be  remembered,  had  been  taken  prisoner 
by  General  Logan,  of  Kentucky,  in  the  year  1786,  when  he  was  a 
youth.  Before  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  he  had  distinguished  him- 
self as  a  warrior,  though  still  very  young.  His  mother  was  a  sister 
to  the  celebrated  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet.  He  stated,  that,  in 
the  summer  preceding  his  death,  he  had  talked  one  whole  night 
with  Tecumseh,  and  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  remain  at  peace, 
while  Tecumseh,  on  the  contrary,  endeavored  to  engage  him  in  the 
war  on  the  side  of  the  British.  His  wife,  when  she  was  young,  had 
also  been  taken  prisoner  by  Colonel  Hardin,  in  1TS9,  and  had  re-, 
mained  in  the  family  till  the  treaty  of  Greenville.  In  the  army  he 
had  formed  an  attachment  for  Major  Hardin,  the  son  of  the  colonel, 
and  son-in-law  of  General  Logan,  and  now  requested  him  to  see 
that  the  money  due  for  his  services  was  faithfully  paid  to  his  family. 
He  also  requested,  that  his  family  might  be  removed  immediately 
to  Kentucky,  and  his  children  educated  and  brought  up  in  the  man- 
ner of  the  white  people.  He  observed  that  he  had  killed  a  great 
chief;  that  the  hostile  "Indians  knew  where  his  family  lived,  and 
that  when  he  was  gone,  a  few  base  fellows  might  creep  up  and  de- 
stroy them. 

Major  Hardin  having  promised  to  do  everything  in  his  power 
to  have  the  wishes  of  his  friend  fulfilled,  immediately  obtained  per- 
mission from  the  general  to  proceed  with  Logan's  little  corps  of  In- 
dians to  the  village  of  Wapoghconata,  where  his  family  resided. 
When  they  came  near  the  village,  the  scalp  of  the  Ottawa  chief 
was  tied  to  a  pole,  to  be  carried  in  triumph  to  the  council  house ;  and 
Captain  John,  when  they  came  in  sight  of  the  town,  ordered  the 
guns  of  the  party  to  be  fired  in  quick  succession,  on  account  of  the 
death  of  Logan.  A  council  of  the  chiefs  were  presently  held,  in 
which,  after  consulting  two  or  three  days,  they  decided  against  send- 
ing the  family  of  their  departed  hero  to  Kentucky.  They  appeared 
however  to  be  fully  sensible  of  the  loss  they  had  sustained,  and 
were  sincerely  grieved  for  his  death. 

About  the  time  that  Tupper's  expedition  to  the  Rapids  was  in  exe- 
cution, General,  Harrison  determined  to  send  an  expedition  of 
horsemen  against  the  Miamies,  assembled  in  the  towns  on  the  Mis- 
sissiniwa  river,  a  branch  of  the  Wabash.  A  deputation  of  chiefs 
from  those  Indians  met  General  Harrison  at  St.  Mary's,  early  in 
October,  and  sued  for  peace — they  agreed  to  abide  by  the  decision 
of  the  President,  and  in  the  meantime  to  send  in  five  chiefs  to  be 
hold  as  hostages.  The  President  replied  to  the  communication  of 
the  general  on  this  subject,  that,  as  the  disposition  of  the  several 
tribes  would  be  known  best  by  himself,  he  must  treat  them  as  their 
conduct  and  the  public  interest  might,  in  his  judgment,  require.  The 
hostages  were  never  sent  in,  and  further  information  of  their  in- 


MOVEMENTS  ON  THE  MISSISSINIWA.  239 

tended  hostility  was  obtained.  At  the  time  of  their  peace  mission, 
they  were  alarmed  by  the  successful  movements  which  had  been 
made  against  other  tribes  Irom  Fort  "Wayne,  and  by  the  formidable 
expedition  which  was  penetrating  their  country  under  General 
Hopkins.  But  the  failure  of  that  expedition  was  soon  afterwards 
known  to  them,  and  they  determined  to  continue  hostile.  A  white 
man  by  the  name  of  William  Connor,  who  had  resided  many  years 
with  the  Delawares,  and  had  a  wife  among  them,  but  who  was 
firmly  attached  to  the  American  cause  iu  this  war,  was  sent  to  the 
towns  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Miamies.  He  visited  the  vil- 
lages on  the  Mississiniwa  river,  and  was  present  at  several  of  their 
councils.  The  question  of  war  with  the  United  States  and  union 
with  the  British  was  warmly  debated,  and  there  was  much  division 
among  the  chiefs,  but  the  war  party  at  last  prevailed.  The  pres- 
ence and  intrigues  of  Tecumseh,  and  afterwards  the  retreat  of  Gen- 
eral Hopkins,  rendered  them  nearly  unanimous  for  war. 

To  avert  the  evils  of  their  hostility,  was  the  object  of  the  expedi- 
tion against  Mississiniwa.  Said  Harrison :  "  The  situation  of  this 
town,  as  it  regards  one  line  of  operations,  even  if  the  hostility  of 
the  inhabitants  was  less  equivocal,  would  render  a  measure  of  this 
kind  highly  proper ;  but  from  the  circumstance  of  General  Hop- 
kin's  failure,  it  becomes  indispensable.  Relieved  from  the  fears 
excited  by  the  invasion  of  their  country,  the  Indians  from  the  upper 
part  of  the  Illinois  river,  and  to  the  south  of  Lake  Michigan,  will 
direct  all  their  efforts  against  Fort  Wayne  and  the  convoys  which 
are  to  follow  the  left  wing  of  the  army.  Mississiniwa  will  be  their 
rendezvous,  where  they  will  receive  provisions  and  every  assistance 
they  may  require  for  any  hostile  enterprise.  From  that  place  they 
can,  by  their  runners,  ascertain  the  period  at  which  every  convoy 
may  set  out  from  St.  Mary's,  and  with  certainty  intercept  it  on  its 
way  to  the  Miami  (Maumee)  Rapids.  But  that  place  being  broken 
up,  and  the  provisions  destroyed,  there  will  be  nothing]to  subsist 
any  body  of  Indians,  nearer  than  the  Potawatamie  towns  on  the 
waters  of  the  St.  Josephs  of  the  Lake." 

This  detachment  numbered  about  six  hundred  mounted  men, 
armed  with  rifles.  They  left  Franklinton  on  the  25th  of  November, 
by  way  of  Dayton  and  Greenville ;  and  reached  the  Indian  towns 
on  the  Mississiniwa  towards  the  middle  of  December,  suffering 
much  with  the  cold.  In  a  rapid  charge  upon  the  first  village,  eight 
warriors  were  killed,  and  forty-two  taken  prisoners,  consisting  of 
men,  women  and  children.  About  half  an  hour  before  day,  the 
morning  following  this  charge,  the  detachment  was  attacked  by  the 
Indians,  and  after  a  sharp  but  short  encounter,  with  a  loss  of  eight 
killed,  and  forty-eight  wounded,  several  of  whom  afterwards  died, 
the  enemy,  despairing  of  success,  fled  precipitately,  with  a  heavy 
loss. 

Learning  from  a  prisoner  that  Tecumseh  was  within  eighteen 
miles  of  them,  with  a  bod}*  of  six  hundred  warriors,  with  the  nom- 


S-iO  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYITE. 

ber  of  wounded  then  to  be  cared  for,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
return,  and  the  detachment,  having  previously  destroyed  the  towns 
they  had  approached,  together  with  all  the  property  therein,  started 
upon  their  return  march,  and  reached  Dayton  during  the  early  part 
of  January. 

"  The  good  effect  of  the  expedition  was  soon  felt,"  says  M'Afee. 
"  It  let  us  distinctly  know  who  were  our  friends  and  who  were  our 
enemies  among  the  Indians." 

The  winter  being  severe,  and  unfavorable  to  transportation,  the 
army  suffered  many  privations  for  the  want  of  a  sufficiency  of  pro- 
visions and  clothing. 

Though  General  Harrison  had  repeatedly  presented  the  many 
difficulties  attendant  upon  a  movement,  at  this  period,  against  De- 
troit and  other  points,  the  government  and  people  were  yet  restless, 
and  a  continued  anxiety  was  manifest  for  a  forward  march  against 
the  British. 

On  the  10th  of  January,  1813,  General  Winchester,  having  preAa- 
ously  received  orders  to  advance  towards  the  British  lines,  reached 
the  Rapids,  preceded  by  a  detachment  of  six  hundred  and  seventy 
men,  under  General  Payne,  who  had  been  ordered  to  attack  a  party 
of  Indians  gathered  in  an  old  fortification  at  Swan  Creek. 

A  large  stone  house  was  now  built  within  the  encampment,  at 
the  Rapids,  to  secure  the  provisions  and  baggage.  A  consider- 
able quantity  of  corn  was  also  gathered  in  the  fields,  and  apparatus 
for  pounding  and  sifting  it  being  made,  it  suppplied  the  troops 
with  very  wholesome  bread.* 

It  now  soon  became  apparent  that  an  attack  was  meditated  by 
the  British  upon  the  forces  under  Winchester,  they  having  heard, 
through  some  Indians,  of  the  advance  of  the  army. 

On  the  morning  of  the  17th,  General  Winchester  detached  Col. 
Lewis,  with  five  hundred  and  fifty  men,  for  the  river  Raisin ;  and  a 
few  hours  later,  Lewis'  detachment  was  followed  by  one  hundred 
and  ten  more  under  Col.  Alien.  On  the  morning  of  this  day  Gen. 
Winchester  also  sent  a  message  to  General  Harrison,  acquainting 
him  with  the  movements  made,  and  desiring  a  reinforcement,  in 
case  of  opposition  in  an  effort  to  possess  and  hold  Frenchtown.f 
With  this  express  was  also  sent  word  that  four  hundred  Indians 
were  at  the  river  Raisin,  and  that  Elliott  was  expected  from  Mai- 
den, with  a  detachment  destined  to  attack  the  camp  at  the  Rapids. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  19tb,  the  messenger  reached  and 
acquainted  General  Harrison  with  the  word  sent  by  General  Win- 
chester ;  upon  which  he  ordered  another  detachment  to  proceed  at 
once  to  the  Rapids,  with  which  he  also  proceeded,  whither  he  ar- 
rived on  the  morning  of  the  20th. 

In  the  meantime,  on  the  iSth,  the  troops  under  Lewis  and  Allen, 
who  had  proceeded  towards  the  river  Raisin,  with  a  view  of  occu- 

*  M'Afee. 

•j-  Which  was  situated  between  Prcsque'Isle  and  Maiden. 


ENGAGEMENT  AT  FRENCHTOWN,  A3  D  DEATH  OF  CoL.  ALLEN.      241 

pying  Frenchtown,  had  been  attach  ed  by  the  enemy,  who  were 
driven  back  with  considerable  loss,  leaving  the  town  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Allen  and  Lewis'  troops. 

This  movement  was  soon  communicated  to  Gen.  Winchester,  at 
the  Rapids,  who  at  once  set  out,  wit  h  a  small  body  of  men,  for  the 
relief  of  the  forces  at  Frenchtown,  and  arrived  at  the  river  Raisin 
on  the  20th.  The  British,  from  Maiden,  were  now  preparing-  to  re- 
ne\v  the  attack  of  the  18th,  and,  on  the  night  of  the  21st,  had  ad- 
vanced, unobserved,  to  a  point  very  near  the  lines  of  Lewis  and 
Allen's  forces,  who  had,  since  the  former  engagement,  been  joined 
by  Gen.  Winchester,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  men. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  22 d,  the  British,  with  a  large  body 
of  Indians,  having  approached  wi  thin  about  three  hundred  yards 
of  the  American  lines,  began  to  open  a  heavy  charge  of  cannon 
and  musketry  upon  them,  and  soon  succeeded  in  nearly  surround- 
ing them. 

The  Americans  fought  bravely.,  but  were  soon  overpowered,  and 
an  indiscriminate  slaughter  was  begun  by  the  Indians.  "  In  their 
confusion  and  dismay,"  the  Americans  "  attempted  to  pass  a  long 
narrow  lane,  through  which  the  road  passed  from  the  village.  The 
Indians  were  on  both  sides,  and  shot  them  down  in  every  direction. 
A  largo  party,  which  had  gained  the  wood,  on  the  right,  were  sur- 
rounded and  massacred  without  distinction,  nearly  one  hundred 
men  being  tomahawked  within  the  distance  of  one  hundred  yards. 
The  most  horrible  destruction  overwhelmed  the  fugitives  in  every 
direction. 

"  Captain  Simpson  was  shot  and  tomahawked  at  the  edge  of  the 
woods,  near  the  mouth  of  the  lane.  COLONEL  ALLEN,*  though  wound- 
ed in  his  thigh,  attempted  to  rally  his  men  several  times,  entreating 
them  to  halt  and  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible.  He  had 
escaped  about  two  miles,  when,  at  length,  wearied  and  exhausted, 
Slid  disdaining  perhaps  to  survive  the  defeat,  he  sat  down  on  a  log, 
determined  to  meet  his  fate.  An  Indian  chief,  observing  him  to  be 
an  officer  of  distinction,  was  anxious  to  take  him  prisoner.  As 
soon  as  he  came  near  the  Colonel,  he  threw  his  gun  across  his  lap, 
and  told  him  in  the  Indian  language  to  surrender,  and  he  should  be 
safe.  Another  savage  having,  at  the  same  time,  advanced  with  a 
hostile  appearance,  Colonel  ALLEN,  by  one  stroke  with  his  sword, 
laid  him  dead  at  his  feet.  A  third  Indian,  who  was  near  him,  had 
then  the  honor  of  shooting  one  of  the  first  and  greatest  citizens  of 
Kentucky.  Captain  Mead,  of  the  regular  army,  who  had  fought  by 
the  side  of  Colonel  Daveiss,  when  he  fell  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoo, 
was  killed  where  the  action  commenced.  Finding  that  the  situation 
of  the  corps  wa^  rcndi.-red  desperate  by  the  approach  of  the  one- my, 
he  gave  orders  to  his  men — "  My  brave  fvllows,"  (cried  ho,)  "  charge 
upon  them  ;  "  and  a  moment  afterwards  he  was  no  more. 

•Mentioned  i»  a  preceding  chapter  :«  the  pennon  after  whom  Allen  County  was 
named.  (16) 


^ 

242  HISTORY  OF  FOBT  WAYNE. 

"  A  party  with  Lieutenant  Garrett,  consisting  of  fifteen  or  twenty 
men,  after  retreating  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  were  compelled  to 
surrender,  and  were  then  all  massacred,  but  the  lieutenant  himself. 
Another  party  of  about  thirty  men  had  escaped  near  three  miles, 
when  they  were  overtaken  by  the  savages,  and  having  surrendered, 
about  one-half  of  them  were  shot  and  tomahawked.  In  short,  the 
greater  part  of  those  who  were  in  the  retreat,  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the 
fury  of  the  Indians.  The  snow  was  so  deep,  and  the  cold  so  intense, 
that  they  were  soon  exhausted,  and  unable  to  elude  their  pursuers. 
Gen.  Winchester  and  Colonel  Lowis,  with  a  few  more,  were  captur- 
ed at  a  bridge,  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  village. 
Their  coats  being  taken  from  them,  they  were  carried  back  to  the 
British  lines,  where  Colonel  Proctor  commanded."* 

A  small  party,  under  Majors  Graves  and  Madison,  having  placed 
themselves  behind  some  picketing,  where  they  maintained  their 
position  and  fought  bravely,  until  an  order,  reported  as  coming  from 
General  Winchester,  was  brought  by  Proctor,  who  was  accompanied 
by  one  of  his  aids,  desiring  them  to  surrender.  Major  Madison  re- 
marked "  that  it  had  been  customary  for  the  Indians  to  massacre 
the  wounded  and  prisoners  after  a  surrender,  and  that  he  would  not 
agree  to  any  capitulation,  which  General  Winchester  might  direct, 
Tinless  the  safety  and  protection  of  his  men  were  stipulated,"  To 
which  Proctor  replied  :  "  Sir,  do  you  mean  to  dictate  to  me  ? "  "  No," 
said  Madison  ;  "  1  mean  to  dictate  for  myself,  and  we  prefer  selling 
our  lives  as  dearly  as  possible,  rather  than  be  massacred  in  cold 
blood." 

Terms,  embodying  positive  protection  to  all,  having  at  length 
been  agreed  upon,  Madison  surrendered,  and  his  party  reached 
Maiden  in  safety.  But  the  Indians  soon  returned  to  the  scene  of 
disaster,  and  began  an  unmerciful  slaughter  of  the  wounded,  strip- 
ping them,'  and  even  setting  fire  to  the  houses  in  which  many  of 
them  were  sheltered,  burning  them  with  the  buildings.  About  300 
Americans  were  in  this  way  and  in  the  struggle  that  preceded  the 
burning  of  the  bodies,  killed,  and  547  taken  prisoners. 

Such  was  the  sad  fate  of  this  expedition.  Suoh  was  the  merci- 
less spirit  of  British  warfare  at  this  period  of  our  history.  And  the 
unwillingness  of  the  troops  to  advance  from  Fort  Wayne  at  the 
announcement  of  a  change  of  general  commanders,  after  the  rescue 
of  the  garrison  here  from  the  wily  efforts  of  the  besiegers,  would 
have  seemed  to  have  foreshadowed  the  terrible  result  of  the  engage- 
ment of  Frenchtown. 

General  Harrison,  on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  (the  news  of  Win- 
chester's attack  having  reached  him  at  the  Rapids,)  ordered  Per- 
kin's  brigade  to  proceed  to  his  relief,  and  soon  followed  himself,  in 
the  rear  of  some  reinforcements  under  Payne,  which  he  is  said  to 
Jia,ve  soon  overtaken.  But  they  had  not  proceeded  far,  when  they 
were  met  by  some  men  from  the  scene  of  defeat,  who  readily  told 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  DEFEAT  OF  FEENCHTOWN.  '  243 

the  sad  story  of  the  fate  that  had  befallen  their  comrades  in  arms. 
But  General  Harrison  was  only  nerved  to  push  on  with  greater 
speed.  Soon  again,  however,  after  proceeding  some  distance  to- 
wards the  scene  of  disaster,  another  party  was  met,  and,  after  a 
council  as  to  the  wisdom  and  safety  of  proceeding  further,  it  was 
deemed  proper  to  venture  no  nearer  the  scene  of  conflict  and  disas- 
ter, feeling  assured  that  no  succor  could  be  rendered  the  victims  of 
the  furious  red  men  and  merciless  British  opponents — that  a  fur- 
ther advancement  would  only  tend  to  furnish  more  material  for 
massacre  and  defeat ;  and  so  the  main  body  returned  to  the  Rapids. 

General  Winchester,  Colonel  Lewis,  and  Major  Madison,  were 
finally  sent  to  Quebec,  where,  and  at  Beaufort,  they  were  confined 
till  the  spring  of  1814. 

The  gloom  that  had  spread  over  the  country  at  the  receipt  of  the 
news  of  the  sad  disaster  to  the  flower  of  the  Kentucky  troops  at 
Frenchtown,  was  indeed  great ;  but  the  people  soon  rallied  again ; 
and  it  was  not  long  till  large  reinforcements  began  to  swell  the 
ranks  of  the  regular  army  for  a  determined  and  vigorous  effort 
for  the  overthrow  of  British  rule  and  future  safety  from  Indian 
atrocities. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

"  Upward,  onward,  in  the  battle, 

****** 

.Never  resting,  never  weary, 
Till  victory  crowns  the,  fight." 


Situation  of  affairs  after  the  slaughter  of  Frenchtown— Heavy  draft  on  Kentucky- 
Efforts  of  the  British — The  importance  of  placing  the  Kentucky  militia  at  $ort 
Wayne — The  British  commander  determines  to  march  the  American  army  to  Mon- 
treal— Advance  of  the  British  and  Indians  on  Fort  Meigs — The  British  again 
occupy  old  Fort  Miami,  at  the  foot  of  the  Rapids — Indians  invest  the  American 
camp — Gen.  Harrison's  address — Bombardment  of  Fort  Meigs  by  the  British — 
Efforts  of  Tecumaeh  and  the  Prophet — Further  movements  of  the  British — Their 
batteries  silenced  by  the  Americans — Reinforcements  under  Gen.  Green  Clay — Or- 
der to  Gen.  Clay,  and  its  execution — Capture  of  Fort  Miami — The  Americans 
overpowered,  and  many  captured  and  killed — -Orders  not  obeyed,  and  disaster 
the  result — Removal  of  American  prisoners — Success  of  Gen,  Dearborn  at  Fort 
George,  and  evacuation  of  old  Fort  Miami  by  the  British — Indians  dissatisfied. 


FTER  the  terrible  slaughter  of  Frenchtown,  but  little  of  great 
importance  occurred  until  the  latter  part  of  April,  1813.  On 
e  16th  of  February,  of  this  year,  the  Governor  of  Kentucky, 
in  compliance  with  a  law  that  had  been  recently  passed  in  that 
State,  had  ordered  a  draft  of  three  thousand  men,  to  be  organ- 
ized into  four  regiments,  under  Colonels  Dudley,  Boswell,  Cox,  and 
Caldwell,  under  the  command  of  General  Green  Clay.  As  the  sea- 
son advanced,  it  became  evident  that  the  British  would  soon  make 
an  attack  on  the  American  lines  at  Fort  Meigs  ;  and  this  was  made 
the  more  certain  from  the  fact  that  the  enemy  had  recently  learned 
the  situation  of  affairs  in  the  American  army  from  a  prisoner  they 
had  taken. 

This  condition  of  affairs  being  communicated  to  the  war  depart- 
ment, "  the  propriety  of  calling  out  the  balance  of  the  Kentucky 
draft,  to  be  placed  at  Fort  Wayne  to  keep  the  Indians  in  check,  was 
pressed  on  the  attention  of  the  government."* 

Both  the  American  and  British  armies  now  soon  became  active 
in  their  movements  against  each  other;  and  the  British  commander 
made   bold  to  assert  that  he  would  march  the  northwestern  army, 
under  Gen.  Harrison,  to  Montreal  by  the  first  of  June. 
*M'Afeo. 


INVESTMENT  OF  FOKT  MEIGS  BY  THE  BRITISH  AND  INDIANS.     145 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  April,  the  British  had  often 
been  seen,  in  small  bodies,  near  Fort  Meigs,  by  scouts  sent  out  by 
the  commanding-general;  and  on  the  26th  ol  April,  the  enemy's 
advance  was  observed  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  within  a  few  miles 
of  Fort  Meigs.  On  the  28th  of  April,  as  Captain  Hamilton  was 
descending  the  Maumee,  with  a  small  reconnoitering  party,  he  be- 
held the  whole  force  of  the  British  and  Indians  approaching  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  fort. 

The  British  now  soon  drew  up  at  old  Fort  Miami,  just  below  the 
scene  of  Wayne's  engagement  with  the  Indians,  in  1794,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  nearly  fronting  Fort  Meigs,  and  began 
at  once  to  land  and  mount  their  guns,  the  Indians  being  at  once 
removed  to  the  south-west  side  of  the  river,  where  they  readily  be- 
gan to  invest  the  American  camp — yelling  and  firing  their  muskets. 

General  Harrison  was  now  most  attentive  and  energetic  in  his 
efforts  ;  and  on  the  following  morning,  he  addressed  the  troops  in 
language  and  feeling  which  had  the  effect  to  inspire  all  under  him 
with  the  largest  courage  and  determination.  Said  he :  "  Can  the 
citizens  of  a  free  country,  who  have  taken  arms  to  defend  its  rights, 
think  of  submitting  to  an  army  composed  of  mercenary  soldiers, 
reluctant  Canadians,  goad-ed  to  the  field  by  the  bayonet,  and  of 
wretched,  naked  savages  ?  Can  the  breast  of  an  American  soldier, 
when  he  casts  his  eyes  to  the  opposite  shore,  the  scene  of  his  coun- 
try's triumphs  over  the  same  foe,  be  influenced  by  any  other  feel- 
ings than  the  hope  of  glory?  Is  .not  this  army  composed  of  the 
same  materials  with  that  which  fought  and  conquered  under  the 
immortal  Wayne?  Yes,  fellow-soldiers,  your  general  sees  your 
countenances  beam  with  the  same  fire  that  he  witnessed  on  that 
glorious  occasion  ;  and  although  it  would  be  the  height  of  presump- 
tion to  compare  himself  to  that  hero;  he  boasts  of  being  that  hero's 
pupil.  To  your  posts,  then,  fellow-citizens,  and  remember  that  the 
eyes  of  your  country  arc  upon  you." 

About  the  first  of  May,  the  British  having  completed  their  batter- 
teries,  they  commenced  a  heavy  cannonading  against  fort  Meigs, 
which  was  continued  for  five  days,  with  but  little  effect.  The 
American  batteries  returned  the  fire  with  good  effect,  but  with  no 
great  amount  of  energy,  not  wishing  to  waste  their  balls  and  amu- 
nition. 

Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet,  with  a  body  of  some  six  hundred  In- 
dians, since  the  fatal  affair  of  Frenchtown,  (Tecumseh  not  having 
been  present  at  that  engagement)  had  joined  the  British,  and  were 
now  most  active  in  their  efforts  against  the  Americans. 

About  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  British  batteries,  General 
Harrison  luid  expected  a  reinforcement  under  General  Green  Clay; 
and  when  the  movements  of  the  British  became  fully  apparent,  Cap- 
tain Oliver,  accompanied  by  a  white  man  and  an' Indian,  was  sent 
as  a  messenger  to  General  Clay,  with  letters  also  for  the  Gover- 
nors of  Ohio  and  Kentucky. 


246  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

Fears  had  been  entertained  that  the  enemy  would  at  length  make 
an  effort  to  gain  a  nearer  approach  to  the  fort,  from  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river,  and  there  erect  a  battery;  which  soon  became 
evident,  and  on  the  3d,  three  field  pieces  and  a  howitzer  were  open- 
ed upon  the  American  camp  from  a  clump  of  bushes  on  the  left, 
but  were  soon  hushed  by  a  few  eighteen  pounders  from  the  Ameri- 
can batteries.  Changing  their  position,  their  batteries  were  again 
opened  upon  the  American  camp,  but  with  an  air  of  mistrust  and 
with  but  little  effect.  Says  Colonel  Wood,  of  the  American  forces : 
"  With  a  plenty  of  ammunition,  we  should  have  been  able  to  have 
blown  John  Bull  almost  from  the  Miami  (Maumee .)  *  *  *  It 
was  extremely  diverting  to  see  with  w7hat  pleasure  and  delight  the 
Indians  would  yell,  whenever  in  their  opinion  considerable  damage 
was  done  in  camp  by  the  bursting  of  a  shell.  Their  hanging  about 
the  camp,  and  occasionally  coming  pretty  near,  kept  our  lines  al- 
most constantly  in  a  blaze  of  fire;  for  nothing  can  please  a  Ken- 
tuckian  better  than  to  get  a  shot  at  an  Indian — and  he  must  be  in- 
dulged." 

With  a  reinforcement  of  some  twelve  hundred  Kentuckians,  Gen- 
eral Clay  soon  drew  near.  Captain  Oliver  had  met  him  at 
Fort  Winchester.  General  Harrison  immediately  sent  an  order  to 
General  Clay,  which  was  delivered  by  Captain  Hamilton,  request- 
ing him  to  detach  "  about  800  men  from  his  brigade,  and  to  land 
them  at  a  point  he  would  direct,  about  a  mile,  or  a  mile  and  a  half 
above  camp  Meigs.  I  will  then  conduct  the  detachment,"  con- 
tinues General  Harrison,  in  this  order,  "  to  the  British  batteries  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  river.  The  batteries  must  be  taken,  the  cannon 
spiked,  and  carriages  cut  down  ;  and  the  troops  must  then  return 
to  their  boats  and  cross  over  to  the  fort.  The  balance  of  your  men," 
said  he, "  must  land  on  the  fort  side  of  the  river,  opposite  the  first 
landing,  and  fight  their  way  into  the  fort  (Miami)  through  the  In- 
dians." 

This  order  was  readily  complied  with.  ;<  Colonel  Dudley  being 
the  oldest  Colonel,  led  the  van.  As  soon  as  Captain  Hamilton  had 
delivered  the  orders,  General  Clay,  who  was  in  the  thirteenth  boat 
from  the  front,  directed  him  to  go  to  Colonel  Dudley,  with  orders 
to  take  the  twelve  front  boats  and  execute  the  plans  of  General 
Harrison  on  the  left  bank,  and  to  post  the  subaltern  with  the  canoe 
on  the  right  bank,  as  a  beacon  for  his  landing.'-* 

Though  somewhat  "  marred  in  the  execution,"  yet  the  plans  of 
General  Harrison  proved  a  success ;  and  after  some  effort,  with 
skillful  manceuvering,  the  point  of  attack  was  gained,  and  the 
British  flag  cut  down,  to  the  infinite  delight  of  the  troops  in  the 
American  garrison  above. 

General  Harrison,  who  had  been  watching,  with  great  concern, 
through  his  spy-glass,  from  a  battery  next  to  the  river,  the  move- 
ments of  the  troops  in  the  execution  of  this  order,  had  discovered 
the  enemy  approaching  the  fort  below  (Miami)  by  a  route  that 

*M'Afee. 


.  EE-CAPTURE  OF  FORT  MIAMI,  BY  THE  BRITISH.  247 

would  enable  them  to  surprise  the  men  under  Dudley  ;  and  at  once 
began  to  make  signs  for  them  to  retreat  to  their  boats,  but  without 
success.  The  General  finally  sent  a  messenger  to  warn  them  of 
their  danger.  Lieutenant  Campbell  undertook  the  mission  ;  but  he 
could  not  reach  them  in  time.  A  party  of  Indians  had  fired  upon 
the  spies  sent  out,  who  were  soon  reinforced,  by  command  of  Colo- 
nel Dudley.  Many  of  the  men  rushed  rapidly  forward  in  pursuit 
of  the  Indians.  The  left  column  still  holding  their  position,  were 
now  soon  encountered  by  the  British  artillerists,  largely  reinforced, 
•who  overpowered  the  Americans,  capturing  some  at  the  battery, 
while  others  fled  to  the  boats.  The  Indians  had  also  been  reinforc- 
ed, and  began  their  usual  work  of  tomahawking,  etc. 

The  greater  part  of  the  men  were  captured  by  the  Indians  or  sur- 
rendered to  the  British.  .  Colonel  Dudley  had  received  a  wound, 
and  was  finally  tomahawked  by  the  savages.  The  number  that 
escaped  and  regained  the  fort  was  less  than  two  hundred.  Had  or- 
ders been  strictly  obeyed,  which  was  not  the  case,  says  M'Afee, 
"  the  day  would  certainly  have  been  an  important  one  for  the 
country." 

"  The  prisoners,"  says  Colonel  Wood,  "were taken  down  to  head- 
quarters, put  into  fort  Miami,  and  the  Indians  permitted  to  garnish 
the  surrounding  rampart,  and  to  amuse  themselves  by  loading  and 
firing  at  the  crowd,  or  at  any  particular  individual.  Those  who 
preferred  to  inflict  a  still  more  cruel  and  savage  death,  selected  their 
victims,  led  them  to  the  gateway,  and  there  under  tlie  eye  of  gener- 
al Proctor,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  British  army,  toma- 
hawked and  scalped  them  !  " 

For  about  two  hours  these  acts  of  unmitigated  ferocity  and  bar- 
barity to  prisoners  of  war  was  permitted  and  continued ;  "during 
which  time,  upwards  of  twenty  prisoners,  defenseless  and  confined, 
were  massacred  in  the  presence  of  the  magnanimous  Britons,  to 
whom  they  had  surrendered,  and  by  the  allies,  too,  with  whom 
those  Britons  had  voluntarily  associated  themselves,  knowing  and 
encouraging  their  mode  of  warfare.  The  chiefs,  at  the  same  time, 
were  holding  a  council  on  the  fate  of  the  prisoners,  in  which  the 
Pottawattamies.  who  were  painted  black,  were  for  killing  the  whole, 
and  by  their  warriors  the  murders  were  perpetrated.  The  Miamies 
and  Wyandotts  were  on  the  side  of  humanity,  and  opposed  the 
wishes  of  the  others.  The  dispute  between  them  had  become  seri- 
ous, when  Colonel  Elliott  and  Tecumseh  came  down  from  the  bat- 
teries to  the  scene  of  carnage.  As  soon  as  Tecumseh  beheld  it,  he 
flourished  his  sword,  and  in  a  loud  voice  ordered  them  '  for  shame 
to  desist.  It  is  a  disgrace,'  said  he,  '  to  kill  a  defenseless  prisoner.' 
His  orders  were  obeyed,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  prisoners,  who  had 
by  this  time  lost  all  hopes  of  being  preserved.  In  this  single  act, 
Tecumseh  displayed  more  humanity,  magnanimity,  and  civilization 
than  Proctor,  with  all  his  British  associates  in  command,  displayed 
through  the  whole  war  on  the  northwestern  frontiers."* 

*M'Afee. 


L>48   '  HISTORY  OP  FOET  WAYNE. 

Retaining  the  prisoners  in  this  place  till  night,  many  of  the 
wounded  for  hours  experiencing  "  the  most  excruciating  torments," 
they  were  placed  in  "  the  British  boats  and  carried  down  the  river 
to  the  brig  Hunter,  and  a  schooner,  where  several  hundred  of  them 
were  stowed  away  in  the  hold  of  the  brig,  and  kept  there  for  two 
days  and  nights.  Their  sufferings  in  this  situation,"  says  Colonel 
M'Af'ee,7"  are  not  to  be  described  by  me  :  I  leave  them  to  be  imagin- 
ed by  those  who  can  feel  for  the  wrongs  of  their  country."  Being 
finally  liberated  on  parole,  however,  these  prisoners  were  "landed 
at  the  mouth  of  Huron  river,  below  the  Sandusky  bay." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  disasterous  movement  at  Fort  Miami, 
but  little  of  interest  occurred  while  the  British  continued  the  siege ; 
and  having  soon  learned  of  the  capture  of  Fort  George,  by  General 
Dearborn,  the  British  commander,  on  the  9th  of  May,  evacuated 
the  old  Fort  at  the  foot  of  the  Rapids.  Alarm  had  not  only  taken 
sudden  possession  of  the  British  on  receipt  of  the  capture  of  Fort 
George,  but  the  Indians,  too,  had  snuffed  the  air  of  defeat,  and 
had  become  much  disaffected  by  the  movements  and  success  of 
the  Americans  against  their  British  father ;  and  before  the  evacua- 
tion of  Fort  Miami  had  been  fully  consummated,  it  was  thought 
by  many  in  the  American  army  that  they  had  measurably  left  the 
British  standard. 

The  Prophet  and  his  followers  had  been  promised  the  Michigan 
Territory,  and  General  Harrison  was  to  be  delivered  up  to  Tecum- 
seh.  But  all  was  now  disaster  to  them,  and  their  former  hope 
of  one  day  being  able,  by  the  aid  of  their  British  father,  to  drive 
the  Americans  beyond  the  Ohio,  had  vanished  forever  from  their 
hearts. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

###*#* 

"  And  has  the  West  no  story 

Of  deathless  deeds  sublime  ? 
Go  ask  yon  shining  river." 


Movements  at  Fort  Wayne — Plan  of  Richard  M,  Johnson — Communication  of  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  Gen.  Harrison — Mounted  volunteers  under  Col.  Johnson — His 
address — Ordered  to  proceed  to  Fort  Wayne,  and  to  scour  the  north -western  frontier 
— Demand  for  more  troops — Johnson's  regiment — Indian  guides — Anthony  Shane 
— Johnson's  march  to  Fort  Wayne — Boat  fired  upon  by  the  Indians,  near  the  Fort 
— Pursuit  of  the  Indians — An  expedition — Anticipated  attack  from  the  British — 
Harrison's  interview  with  the  Indians — Movements  towards  Lower  Sandusky — Re- 
investment of  Fort  Meigs  by  the  British  and  Indians — Surprise  of  a  picket-guard 
— Depredations  by  the  Indians — Movements  of  Tecumseh — Heavy  firing  on  the 
Sandusky  road — Movements  of  the  British — Council  of  war — Fort  Stepheiison — 
Bravery  of  the  American  troops — Valor  of  Major  Croghan,  and  high  appreciation 
of  his  course — A  Wyandolt  scout. 


.TIRING  much  of  the  time  since  the  transfer  of  the  theatre  of 
[strife  and  siege  from  Fort  Wayne  to  points  below,  along  the 
->Maumee  and  elsewhere,  but  little  had  occurred  here  of  marked 
'interest.  The  garrison  had  been  watchful ;  the  Indians  had 
been  active  in  the  region,  but  their  attention  had  mainly  been 
called  away  by  the  action  and  command  of  their  British  father  be- 
low and  about  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee. 

The  principal  object  of  the  expeditions  against  the  Indians,  from 
Fort  Wayne  and  other  points,  as  the  reader  will  remember,  was  to 
destroy  their  provisions  and  means  of  subsistence,  thereby  effectu- 
ally disabling  them  for  renewed  efforts  in  the  following  spring 
(1813);  and  Richard  M.  Johnson,  who  had  witnessed  the  effect  of 
these  movements  and  the  efficiency  of  the  mounted  riflemen,  on  his 
return  to  Congress,  had  laid  before  the  war  department  a  plan  for 
a  mounted  expedition  against  the  tribes,  as  already  referred  to,  dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1812-'13. 

The  good  effects  of  the  expeditions  were  stated  by  him  to  be : 
"  Security  to  the  northwestern  frontiers  from  Fort  Wayne  to  the 
Mississippi — to  the  convoys  of  provisions  for  the  northwestern 
army,  when  its  force  was  diminished  in  the  spring,  and  the  neutral- 


250  HlSTOBY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

ity  of  the  savages  in  future,  from  the  powerful  impression  that 
would  be  made  on  their  fears;  that  the  winter  season  would  be 
most  favorable  for  the  movement — enabling  the  horsemen,  while 
snow  was  on  the  ground,  and  the  leaves  off  the  bushes,  to  hunt  out 
and  destroy  the  Indians  prowling  about." 

With  this  view,  two  regiments,  consisting  of  about  1280  men,  were 
proposed  to  be  employed,  which  were  then  considered  sufficient  to 
traverse  the  entire  Indian  county,  from  Fort  Wayne  to  the  lower 
end  of,  and  beyond,  Lake  Michigan,  by  way  of  the  Illinois  river, 
back  to  the  river  Ohio,  near  Louisville,  Ky. ;  and  "  to  disperse  and 
destroy  all  the  tribes  of  Indians  and  their  resources  to  be  found 
within  that  compass."  Colonel  Johnson  also  presented  this  subject 
to  the  Governor  of  Kentucky  ;  and  the  same  was  finally  submitted, 
by  the  Secretary  of  war,  to  General  Harrison,  on  the  26th  of  De- 
cember, 1812.  Said  the  Secretary,  in  this  communication  :  "  The 
President  has  it  in  contemplation  to  set  on  foot  an  expedition  from 
Kentucky  of  about  1000  mounted  men,  to  pass  by  Fort  Wayne,  the 
lower  end  of  lake  Michigan,  and  round  by  the  Illinois  back  to  the 
Ohio  near  Louisville,  for  the  purpose  of  scouring  that  country,  des- 
troying the  provisions  collected  in  the  Indian  villages,  scourging 
the  Indians  themselves,  and  disabling  them  from  interfering  with 
your  operations.  It  is  expected  that  this  expedition  will  commence 
in  February  (1813);  and  it  will  terminate  in  a  few  weeks.  I  give 
you  the  information,  that  you  may  take  it  into  consideration  in  the 
estimate  of  those  arrangements,  you  may  find  it  necessary  to  make, 
for  carrying  into  effect  the  objects  of  the  government.  I  send  you 
a  copy  of  the  proposed  plan,  on  which  I  wish  to  hear  from  you 
without  delay.  You  will  particularly  state,  whether  you  can  effect 
these  objects  in  the  manner  which  is  suggested,  by  adequate  por- 
tions of  the  force  now  in  the  field ;  and  in  that  case,  whether  it  will 
be  better  to  suspend  the  movement  of  this  force  until  the  spring." 

In  the  expedition  under  Colonel  Campbell,  in  the  middle  of  the 
winter,  to  the  towns  on  the  Mississinewa,  as  the  reader*will  remem- 
ber, General  Harrison  had  already  anticipated  the  plan  of  Colonel 
Johnson. 

After  having  further  considered  the  proposition  of  Colonel  John- 
son, General  Harrison  made  the  following  response  : 

"  I  am  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  agree  with  my  friend,  Colonel  John- 
son, upon  the  propriety  of  the  contemplated  mounted  expedition. 
An  expedition  of  this  kind  directed  against  a  particular  town  will 
probably  succeed.  The  Indian  towns  cannot  be  surprised  in  sue-1 
cession,  as  they  give  the  alarm  from  one  to  the  other  with  more 
rapidity  than  our  troops  can  move.  In  the  months  of  February, 
March,  and  April,  the  towns  are  all  abandoned.  The  men  are  hunt- 
ing, and  the  women  and  children,  particularly  to  the  north  of  the 
Wabash,  are  scattered  about  making  sugar.  The  corn  is  in  that 
season  universally  hid  in  small  parcels  in  the  earth,  and  could  not 
be  found.  There  are  no  considerable  villages  in  that  direction. 


KESPONSE  OF  GEN.  HAEEISON  TO  THE  SECRETAEY  OF  WAK.     251 

Those  that  are  there  are  composed  of  bark  huts,  which  the  Indians 
do  not  care  for,  and  which  during  the  winter  are  entirely  empty. 
The  detachment  might  pass  through}  the  whole  extent  of  country 
to  be  scoured,  without  seeing  an  Indian,  except  at  the  first  town 
they  struck,  and  it  is  more  than  probable,  that  they  would  find  it 
empty.  But  the  expedition  is  impracticable  to  the  extent  proposed. 
The  horses,  if  not  the  men,  would  perish.  The  horses  that  are  now 
to  be  found,  are  not  like  those  of  the  early  settlers,  and  such  as  the 
Indians  and  traders  now  hape.  They  have  been  accustomed  to 
corn,  and  must  have  it.  Colonel  Campbell  went  but  70  or  80  miles 
from  the  frontiers,  and  the  greater  part  of  his  horses  could  scarcely 
be  brought  in.  Such  an  expedition  in  the  summer  and  fall  would 
be  highly  advantageous,  because  the  Indians  are  then  at  their 
towns,  and  their  corn  can  be  destroyed.  An  attack  upon  a  particu- 
lar town  in  the  winter,  when  the  inhabitants  are  at  it,  as  we  know 
they  are  at  Mississiniway,  and  which  is  so  near  as  to  enable  the 
detachment  to  reach  it  without  killing  their  horses,  is  not  only  prac- 
ticable, but  if  there  is  snow  on  the  ground  is  perhaps  the  most 
favorable." 

These  practical  suggestions  of  the  General  were  sufficient.  The 
plan  was  abandoned,  and  "  the  attention  of  government  was  direc- 
ted to  the  organization  of  a  mounted  corps  for  the  spring;"  and 
Colonel  Johnson  was  "  authorized  to  organize,  and  hold  in  readi- 
ness, a  regiment  of  mounted  volunteers — which  he  readily  complied 
with,  on  his  return  to  Kentucky,  at  the  close  of  the  session  of  Con- 
gress, and  soon  moved  towards  the  scene  of  action. 

Addressing  his  men,  he  said :  "  The  regiment  of  mounted  volun- 
teers was  organized  under  the  authority  of  the  war  department,  to 
await  its  call,  or  to  meet  any  crisis  which  might  involve  the  honor, 
the  rights  and  the  safety  of  the  country.  That  crisis  has  arrived. 
Fort  Meigs  is  attacked.  The  northwestern  army  is  surrounded  by 
the  enemy,  and  under  the  command  of  general  Harrison  is  nobly 
defending  the  cause  of  the  country  against  a  combined  enemy,  the 
British  and  Indians.  They  will  maintain  their  ground  till  relieved. 
The  intermediate  garrisons  are  also  in  imminent  danger,  and  may 
fall  a  bleeding  sacrifice  to  savage  cruelty,  unless  timely  reinforced. 
The  frontiers  may  be  deluged  in  blood.  The  mounted  regiment 
will  present  a  shield  to  the  defenseless ;  and  united  with  the  forces 
now  marching,  and  the  Ohio  volunteers  for  the  same  purpose,  will 
drive  the  enemy  from  our  soil.  Therefore  on  Thursday,  the  20th 
of  May,  the  regiment  will  rendezvous  at  the  Great  Crossings  in 
Scott  county,  except  the  companies,  (fcc.,  which  will  rendezvous  ou 
the  22d  at  Newport;  at  which  place,  the  whole  corps  will  draw 
arms,  ammunition,  &c." 

Calling  upon  General  Harrison,  who,  at  this  time,  was  at  Cincin- 
nati visiting  his  family,  who  then  lived  there,  Colonel  Johnson's 
regiment  was  accepted,  and  he  was  ordered  by  General  Harrison  to 
proceed  immediately  to  Fort  Wayne,  to  take  command  here  and  of 


152  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

the  posts  on  the  Auglaize  ;  also  "  to  make  incursions  into  the  coun- 
try of  the  Indians ;  to  scour  the  northwestern  frontiers ;  and,  if 
possible,  to  cut  off  small  parties  who  might  infest  the  forts,  or  be 
marching  from  the  Illinois  and  Wabash  towards  Maiden  and  Detroit 
— never  to  remain  at  one  place  more  than  three  days." 

An  officer  from  each  regiment  was  at  once  sent  back  to  raise 
another  body  of  men.  The  regiment  under  Johnson  was  com- 
posed as  follows : 

R. .  M.  Johnson,  Colonel;  James  Johnson,  Lieutenant-colonel. 
First  battalion — Duval  Payne,  Major;  Robt.  B.  M'Afee,*  Eichard 
Matison,  Jacob  Elliston,  Benjamin  Warfield,  John  Payne,  (cavalry-) 
Elijah  Craig,  Captains. 

Second  battalion — David  Thompson,  Major  ;  Jacob  Stucker,  Jas. 
Davidson,  S.  R.  Combs,  W.  M.  Price,  James  Coleman,  captains. 

Staff — Jeremiah  Kertly,  Adjutant;  B.  S.  Chambers, Quartermas- 
ter ;  Samuel  Theobalds,  Judge-advocate  ;  L.  Dickinson,  Sargeant- 
major. 

James  Sugget,  Chaplain  and  Major  of  the  spies;  L.  Sandford,. 
Quartermaster-sargeant ;  subsequently  added,  Dr.  Ewing,  Surgeon, 
and  Drs.  Coburn  and  Richardson,  surgeon's  mates. 

The  regiment  arrived  at  Fort  Meigs  on  the  first  of  June,  1813. 
From  this  point  Colonel  Johnson  proceeded  alone  to  the  Indian 
village  of  Wapoghconata,  on  the  Auglaize,  "  to  procure  some 
Shawanoe  Indians  to  act  as  guides  and  spies  ;  "  and  after  a  few 
days  returned  with  thirteen  Indians,  among  whom  was  the  half- 
bred,  Anthony  Shane,  whose  father  was- a  Frenchman,  and  in  whom 
the  largest  confidence  was  placed  by  those  who  knew  him  in  the 
northwestern  army.  Shane  had  been  an  active  opponent  of  Wayne, 
in  1794,  but  afcer  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  had  been  a  most  faithful 
friend  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  5th  of  June,  the  regiment  under  Johnson  again  took  up 
its  line  of  march  for  Fort  Wayne.  When  the  troops  reached  Shane's 
crossing  of  the  St.  Mary,  about  forty  miles  from  Fort  Wayne,  they 
were  halted  and  drilled  for  some  time,  and  here  remained  over 
night.  Heavy  rains  having  but  recently  fallen,  the  St.  Mary  was 
found  impassible  ;  and  on  the  following  morning  a  rude  bridge  was 
formed  over  this  stream  by  felling  trees  across  it,  upon  which  the 
army  crossed  with  their  baggage  and  guns,  while  their  horses  were 
gotten  over  by  swimming  them  by  the  side  of  the  fallen  timber. 

The  remainder  of  the  route  to  Fort  Wayne  proved  very  difficult; 
"  all  the  flats  and  marshes  being  covered  with  water,  and  the  roads 
very  miry."t 

Reaching  the  Fort  on  the  evening  of  the  7th  of  June,  it  was 
found  that  the  boats  had  all  gained  the  common  landing  place,  at 
the  base  of  the  hill,  just  below  the  garrison,  in  safety,  but  one, 
which  had  stranded  on  a  sand-bar  a  short  distance  atyove,  in  sight 
of  the  fort ;  and  while  attempting  to  get  the  boat  off,  the  boatmen 

*Author  of  "  History  of  the  Late  War  in  the  "Western  Country."  tM'Afee. 


AN  EXPEDITION  FROM  FORT  WAYNE. 

were  fired  upon  by  some  Indians  lurking  near,  and  two  of  the  men 
killed,  while  the  third,  in  attempting  to  swim  to  the  shore,  was 
drowned. 

Arriving  a  little  in  advance  of  the  regiment,  Colonel  Johnson 
and  staff,  as  soon  as  it  was  possible  to  get  ready,  mounted  their 
horses  and  crossed  to  the  boat.  The  Indians  at  once  fired  upon 
their  advance,  and  then  retreated. 

The  spies  having  now  suggested  that  the  Indians  were  consider- 
ably stronger  than  the  party  under  Colonel  Johnson,  a  pursuit  was 
deferred  until  the  arrival  of  the  regiment,  when  a  chase  was 
immediately  commenced  and  continued  for  some  ten  miles;  but  rain 
beginning  to  fall  heavily,  the  party  was  compelled  to  return  to  the 
fort  again,  without  having  gained  sight  of  the  Indians. 

But  a  further  pursuit  was  at  once  determined  upon  ;  and  the  next 
day,  (the  Sth)  after  a  council  of  officers,  and  some  necessary  pre- 
paration, an  expedition  was  formed  to  proceed  in  the  direction  of 
the  southeast  end  of  Lake  Michigan.  With  this  view,  the  regi- 
ment, towards  evening,  deposited  their  heavy  baggage  in  the  fort ; 
supplied  themselves  with  ten  days'  provisions,  and  soon  crossed  the 
St.  Mary,  to  encamp  for  the  night  in  the  forks,  opposite  the  garrison, 
where  the  river  had  now  just  begun  to  rise ;  "  though,"  says  M'Afee, 
"  on  the  evening  of  the  5th,  it  had  been  at  the  top  of  its  banks  at 
Shane's  crossing,  but  forty  miles  from  its  mouth  by  land.  Hence," 
continues  he,  "  if  we  suppose  the  current  to  run  three  miles  an  hour, 
(which  is  near  the  truth),  the  distance  by  water  would  be  two  hun- 
dred miles,  so  extremely  crooked  is  the  course  of  the  river." 

Early  on  the  following  day,  the  regiment  took  the  Indian  trail 
again,  leading  towards  the  old  Pottawattamie  village  of  Five  Med- 
als, which  had  been  destroyed,  as  the  reader  will  remember,  the 
previous  year,  but  which  was  now  thought  to  have  been  rebuilt.  The 
regiment  marched  forty  miles  this  day,  before  night.  Stopping 
now  to  rest 'and  permit  the  horses  to  graze,  with  a  view  to  an  attack 
upon  the  Indian  village  at  daylight  the  next  morning,  a  heavy  rain 
came  up,  preventing  the  execution  of  the  plan  ;  but  "  after  encoun- 
tering many  obstacles  in  crossing  high  waters  and  marshes,  they 
arrived  at  the  Elkhart  river  before  it  had  risen  so  as  to  be  impassa- 
ble, and  in  half  an  hour  afterwards  the  village  of  Five  Medals  was 
gained  and  surrounded  ; "  but  found  unoccupied. 

Determining  now  to  visit  a  village  on  the  other  side  of  the  St. 
Joseph  Of  the  Lake,  known  as  Paravash,  on  the  morning  of  the 
llth,  the  regiment  began  its  march  for  that  point,  but,  upon  arriv- 
ing at  the  St.  Joseph,  and  finding  it  impassable,  further  movement 
upon  this  village  was  abandoned.  A  rapid  advance  was  now  made 
upon  the  White  Pigeon's  toivn,  arriving  there  in  the  afternoon  of 
that  day,  meeting  a  lew  Indians  on  the  way,  who  made  their  escape 
in  a  canoe  across  a  stream  on  the  route,  which  was  also  found  im- 
passable. The  village  of  White  Pigeon  had  long  been  the  most 
extensive  Indian  town  in  that  region  ;  and  the  main  trace  of  the 

• 


254  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

Indians,  from  Chicago  and  the  Illinois  country  to  Detroit,  passed 
directly  through  this  town,  but  appeared  to  have  been  but  little 
traversed  that  spring.  Here,  near  this  village,  the  regiment  en- 
camped till  the  following  day,  when,  having  fulfilled  his  instructions 
to  visit  this  trace,  with  a  view  to  intercepting  any  movements 
of  the  enemy  that  might  be  making  by  this  route^  and  finding  also 
that  the  provisions  of  the  troops  had  been  considerably  damaged 
by  the  rains  encountered,  Colonel  Johnson  determined  to  return  to 
Fort  Wayne  ;•  and,  as  there  was  an  Indian  path  at  that  time  leading- 
direct  from  the  White  Pigeon  town  to  Fort  Wayne,  the  regiment 
now  began  its  return  march  over  this  trail  for  the  Fort,  whither,  after 
a  march,  in  all,  with  heavy  rains  every  day,  of  some  two  hundred 
miles,  on  the  14th,  the  troops  again  drew  up  at  the  Fort  here,  con- 
siderably fatigued,  though  as  determined  and  earnest  as  ever  in 
their  patriotic  efforts. 

Though  not  encountering  the  Indians  in  his  route,  or  finding 
them  at  either  of  the  villages  visited,  yet  the  movements  of  the  ex- 
pedition under  Colonel  Johnson  greatly  increased  his  knowledge 
of  the  country ;  and  it  was  now  soon  ascertained  that  all  the  In- 
dians in  the  British  service,  and  wrho  had  principally  been  engaged 
in  the  siege  of  Fort  Meigs,  were  still  mainly  held  and  maintained 
in  the  vicinity  of  Maiden. 

After  a  few  days'  stay  at  Fort  Wayne,  and  finding  themselves 
much  rested  from  their  late  fatiguing  and  most  disagreeable  march, 
the  regiment  under  Johnson  proceeded  down  the  Maumee,  with  an 
escort  of  provisions,  to  Fort  Winchester.  The  provisions  were 
placed  in  boats,  with  a  number  of  men  to  man  them,  while  the 
troops  continued  their  way  along  the  road  opened  by  General  Win- 
chester, on  the  north  side  of  the  Maumee,  encamping  every  night 
with  the  boats.  Arriving  at  Fort  Winchester,  Colonel  Johnson  re- 
ceived a  dispatch  from  General  Harrison,  recommending  him  to 
make  an  attack  on  the  enemy  at  Raisin  and  Browntown.  To  this 
suggestion,  though  by  no  means  explicit*  Colonel  Johnson  at  once 
began  to  give  his  attention,  feeling,  from  his  high  sense  of  patriot- 
ism and  regard  for  General  Harrison  and*  any  suggestion  emanating 
from  him,  that  the  plan  should  be  executed,  .if  possible. 

Having,  just  before  this  suggestion  to-  Colonel  Johnson,  heard  of 
the  success  of  the  American  arms  below  Fort  Meigs,  and  "  that 
General  Proctor  was  ordered  in  that  direction  to  assist  in  repelling 
the  invaders  ;  and  believing  that  Proctor  had  left  Maiden  with  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  his  force,  the  General  supposed  that  an  excel- 
lent opportunity  had  offered  to  attack  his  savage  allies  in  the  Michi- 
gan Territory,  by^a  coup  de  main  with  the  mounted  regiment." 

But  Colonel  Johnson,  owing  to  the  fact  of  his  horses  being  much 
exhausted  from  the  effects  of  their  late  expedition  from  Fort  Wayne, 
as  well  as  for  lack  of  a  sufficient  number  of  men,  a  detachment  of 
his  regiment  having  been  engaged  in  escorting  provisions  from  St.. 
Mary's,  was  unable  to  carry  out  immediately  the  plan  proposed  by 


BELIEF  OP  FOKT  MEIGS.  255 

General  Harrison.  The  execution  of  the  plan  proposed  was  con- 
sidered most  hazzardous  indeed  ;  and  to  have  attempted  a  march 
of  a  "  hundred  miles,  through  swamps  and  marshes,  and  over  diffi- 
cult rivers,  with  guides  not  very  well  acquainted  with  the  country," 
and  with  horses  greatly  worn  down, "  to  attack  a  body  of  Indians 
who  could,  in  a  few  hours,  raise  more  than  double  the  force  of  the 
regiment"  of  700  men  then  under  Johnson,  required  some  considera- 
tion as  well  as  time  and  preparation.  "  But  fortunately  for  the  regi- 
ment, on  the  next  day  an  express  arrived  from  General  Clay,  com- 
manding at  Fort  Meigs,  with  information  that  the  British  and  In- 
dians threatened  to  invest  that  place  again,  and  with  a  request  that 
Colonel  Johnson  would  march  his  regiment  there  immediately  for 
its  relief.  Orders  to  march  were  given  without  delay  ;  and  such 
was  the  zeal  and  promptitude  of  both  officers  and  men,  that  in  half 
an  hour  they  were  all  ready  to  march,  and  commenced  crossing  the 
Maumee,  opposite  the  fort.  *  *  *  *  *  The  heads  of  the 
column  were  then  drawn  up  in  close  order,  and  the  Colonel,  in  a 
short  arid  impressive  address,  instructed  them  in  their  duties.  If 
an  enemy  were  discovered,  the  order  of  march  was  to  be  in  two 
lines,  one  parallel  to  the  river,  and  the  other  in  front,  stretching 
across  from  the  head  of  the  former  to  the  river  on  the  right.  He 
concluded  with  saying : '  We  must  fight  our  way  through  any  oppos- 
ing force,  let  what  will  be  the  consequences,  as  no  retreat  could  be 
justifiable.  It  is  no  time  to  flinch — we  must  reach  the  fort,  or  die 
in  the  attempt.'  Every  countenance,  responsive  to  the  sentiments 
of  the  speaker,  indicated  the  same  desperate  determination.  The 
ground  on  which  the  enemy  had  gained  their  barbarous  triumph 
over  Dudley  was  again  to  be  traversed;  and  his  allies  woulddoubtless 
hope  to  realize  another  5th  of  May,  in  another  contest  with  Ken- 
tucky militia.  The  march  was  again  resumed,  and  the  regiment 
arrived  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  night,  opposite  Fort  Meigs,  without 
molestation,  and  encamped  in  the  open  plain  between  the  river  and 
the  hill  on  which  the  British  batteries  had  been  erected."* 

Apprehensions  of  an  attack  were  now  strong.  Information,  gain- 
ed from  a  Frenchman  and  an  American  prisoner,  who  arrived  at 
Fort  Meigs  on  the  20th  of  June,  was  to  the  effect  that  the  British 
were  determined  to  renew  the  attack  on  tire  fort,  and  were  to  start 
for  that  purpose  about  that  period.  At  this  time,  General  Harri- 
son was  at  Franklinton,  where  he  was  made  acquainted  with  the 
determination  of  the  British. 

Before  quitting  Franklinton  for  other  points  in  view,  he  held  an 
important  council  with  some  chiefs  of  the  friendly  Indians  of  the 
Delaware,  Shawanoe,  Wyandott,  and  Seneca  tribes;  informing 
them  "  that  a  crisis  had  arrived,  which  required  all  the  tribes  who 
remained  neutral,  and  who  were  willing  to  engage  in  the  war,  to 
take  a  decided  stand  either  for  the  Americans  or  against  them — that 
the  President  wanted  no  false  friends — that  the  proposal  of  General 
Proctor  to  exchange  the  Kentucky  militia  for  the  tribes  in  our  friend- 

•M'Afre. 


256  HISTORY  OF  FOET  WAYNE. 

ship  indicated  that  he  had  received  some  hint  of  their  willingness  to 
to  take  up  the  tomahawk  against  the  Americans — and  that  to  give 
the  United  States  a  proof  of  their  disposition,  they  must  either  re- 
move with  their  families  into  the  interior,  or  the  warriors  must 
accompany  him  in  the  ensuing  campaign  and  fight  for  the  United 
States.  •  To  the  latter  condition,  the'  chiefs  and  warriors  unani- 
mously agreed;  and  said  they  had  long  been  anxious  for  an  invita- 
tion to  fight  for  the  Americans.  Tahe,  the  oldest  Indian  in  the 
western  country,  who  represented  all  the  tribes,  professed,  in  their 
name,  the  most  indissoluable  friendship  for  the  United  States.  Gen- 
eral Harrison  then  told  them  he  would  let  them  know  when  they 
would  be  wanted  in  the  service — "  but,"  said  he,  "  you  must  con- 
form to  our  mode  of  warfare.  You  must  not  kill  defenseless 
prisoners,  old  men,  women,  or  children."  By  their  conduct,  he 
also  added,  he  would  be  able  to  tell  whether  the  British  could  re- 
strain their  Indians  from  such  horrible  cruelty.  For  if  the  In- 
dians fighting  with  him  would  forbear  such  conduct,  it  would 
prove  that  the  British  could  also  restrain  theirs  if  they  wished  to 
do  so — numerously  telling  them  he' had  been  informed  that  General 
Proctor  had  promised  to  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  Tecumseh, 
if  he  succeeded  against  Fort  Meigs,  to  be  treated  as  that  warrior 
might  think  proper.  "  Now,"  continued  he,  "  if  I  can  succeed  in 
taking  Proctor,  you  shall  have  him  for  your  prisoner,  provided  you 
will  agree  to  treat  him  as  a  squaw,  and  only  put  petticoats  upon  him ; 
for  he  must  be  a.  coward  who  would  kill  a  defenseless  prisoner." 

The  subject  being  now  strongly  pressed  upon  the  government, 
the  Indians  were  soon  reluctantly  employed  by  the  United  States 
against  the  Indians  in  the  employ  of  the  British ;  and  the  move- 
ment, says  M'Afee,  "  was  perfectly  justifiable,  as  a  measure  of  self- 
-defense  ;  yet,"  continues  he,  "  there  is  only  one  reason  which  recon- 
ciles me  to  it- — we  thus  demonstrated  that  the  north- American  sav- 
age is  not  such  a  cruel  and  ferocious  being  that  he  cannot  be  re- 
strained by  civilized  man  within  the  bounds  of  civilized  warfare. 
In  several  instances,"  he  further  remarks,  "  strong  corps  of  Indians 
fought  under  the  American  standard,  and  were  uniformly  distin- 
guished for  their  orderly  and  humane  conduct." 

On  the  first  of  July,  General  Harrison  set  out  from  Fort  Meigs 
for  Lower  Sandusky,  accompanied  by  seventy  mounted  men,  under 
command  of  Captain  MAfee. 

Soon  after  his  departure,  the  Indians  had  begun  again  to  invest 
the  vicinity  of  Fort  Meigs  ;  and  late  on  the  evening  of  the  20th  of 
July,  the  vessels  of  the  British  army  were  to-be  seen  in  the  Maumee, 
some  distance  below  the  fort. 

Early  on  the  following  morning,  a  picket-guard,  of  some  eleven 
men,  having  been  sent  to  a  point  about  three  hundred  yards  below 
the  fort,  were  surprised  by  the  Indians,  and  seven  of  them 
killed.  At  this  time  a  large  body  of  British  and  Indians  were. seen 

encamped  below  old  For);  Miami,  on  the  north  side  of  the   river ; 

1  ' 


SHAM  MOVMEKTS  OP  THE  BRITISH  ON  THE  SANDUSKY  ROAD.    257 

and  the  woods  in  the  rear  of  the  fort  was  soon  after  possessed  by 
the  Indians,  who  began  to  commit  some  depredations,  by  occasion- 
ally firing  into  the  fort,  and  capturing  some  horses  and  oxen. 

General  Harrison  was  at  once  apprised  of  the  siege,  while  all 
in  the  garrison  were  attentively  engaged  in  preparing  for  the  move- 
ments against  the  fort ;  and  General  Clay  was  most  vigilant  in  all 
his  efforts. 

On  the  23d,  with  a  body  of  some  eight  hundred  Indians,  Tecum- 
seh  was  seen  moving  up  the  river,  with  a  view,  as  was  supposed,  of 
attacking  Fort  Winchester.  On  the  25th,  the  enemy  removed  his 
camp  to  the  south  side  of  the  river,  which  superinduced  the  belief 
that  an  attempt  would  be  made  by  the  British  to  take  the  fort  by 
storm. 

General  Harrison  was  still  kept  advised  of  the  movements  of 
the  British ;  but  his  force  was  not  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  reach 
the  garrison  as  he  had  wished,  though  he  continued  to  assure  Gen- 
eral Clay  that  all  needed  aid  would 'reach  him  from  Ohio  and^other 
points  in  good  season.  On  the  evening  of  the  26th,  some  hours 
after  the  arrival  at  the  fort  of  the  express  from  General  Harrison, 
heavy  firing  was  commenced  on  the  Sandusky  road,  about  the 
distance  of  a  mile  from  Fort  Meigs.  The  discharge  of  rifles  and 
musketry,  accompanied  by  the  Indian  yell,  could  be  clearly  dis- 
tinguished; and  by  degrees  the  apparent  contest  approached  to- 
wards the  fort,  though  sometimes  it  appeared  to  recede.  It  lasted 
about  an  hour,  and  came  in  the  end  near  the  edge  of  the  woods. 
The  general  pronounced  it  a  sham  battle,  intended  to  draw  out  the 
garrison  to  relieve  a  supposed  reinforcement.  A  few  discharges  of 
cannon  at  the  fort,  and  a  heavy  shower  of  rain,  at  length  put  an  end 
to  the  scheme,  no  doubt  to  the  great  mortification  of  its  projectors. 
The  express  from  General  Harrison  had  providentially  arrived  in 
time  to  preserve  the  garrison  from  the  possibility  of  being  deluded 
by  this  artifice  of  the  enemy.  On  the  next  day  the  British  moved 
over  to  their  old  encampment,  and  on  the  28th  embarked  in  their 
vessels  and  abandoned  the  siege.  The  force  which  Proctor  and 
Tecumseh  brought  against  the  fort  in  this  instance  was  about 
5000  strong.  A  greater  number  of  Indians  were  collected  by  them 
for  this  expedition  than  ever  were  assembled  in  one  body  on  any 
other  occasion  during  the  whole  war. 

Having  raised  the  siege  of  Fort  Meigs,  the  Britijh  sailed  round 
into  Sandusky  Bay,  while  a  competent  number  of  their  Indian 
allies  moved  across  through  the  swamps  of  Portage  river,  to  co- 
operate in  a  combined  attack  on  Lower  Sandusky,  expecting,  no 
doubt,  that  General  Harrison's  attention  would  be  chiefly  directed 
to  forts  Winchester  and  Meigs.  The  General,  however,  had  cal- 
culated on  their  taking  this  course,  and  had  been  careful  to  koey 
patrols  down  the  Bay,  opposite  the  mouth  ol  Portage  river,  where 
he  supposed  their  forces  would  debark.* 

General  Clay  now  took  <:are  to  acquaint  General  Harrison  with 
*M'AfV..  (17) 


258  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE 

the  movement  of  the  British,  and  on  the  29th  of  July,  the  messen- 
ger from  Fort  Meigs  having  reached  him,  he  immediately  called  a 
council  of  war,  consisting  of  M'Arthur,  Casa,  Ball,  Paul,  Wood, 
Hukill,  Holmes,  and  Graham,  which  resulted  in  a  determination 
to  evacuate  and  destroy  Fort  Stephenson,  if  necessary. 

By  the  81st  of  July,  the  enemy  had  approached  so  near  this  fort 
as  to  be  able  to  throw  their  shells  about  ii  ;  and  a  flag  was  soon 
seen  approaching  the  garrison,  which  was  promptly  met  by  En- 
sign Shipp,  by  command  of  Major  Croghan.  The  bearer  of  the 
flag  had  been  instructed  by  Gen.  Proctor,  who  accompanied  the 
fleet,  to  demand  a  surrender  of  the  fort,  which  was  positively  re- 
fused, Shipp  replying  that  it  was  the  determination  of  the  com- 
mandant of  the  garrison  to  defend  it  to  the  last  extremity,  and  to 
disappear  amid  the  conflagration  that  should  destroy  it. 

The  Indians,  as  on  former  occasions,  were  not  to  be  restrained, 
and  the  bearer  of  the  flag  thought  it  "  a  great  pity  that  so  fine  a 
young  man  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  savages." 

"  An  Indian,"  says  Captain  M'Afee,  "  at  this  moment  came  out 
of  an  adjoining  ravine,  and  advancing  to  the  ensign,  took  hold  of 
his  sword  and  attempted  to  wrest  it  from  him.  Diekson  interfer- 
ed, and  having  restrained  the  Indian,  affected  great  anxiety  to  get 
him  safe  into  the  fort. 

'•The  enemy  now,"  continues  M'Afee,  "  opened  their  fire  from 
their  6-pounders  in  the  gunboats  and  the  howitzer  on  shore,  which 
they  continued  through  the  night  \vith  but  little  intermission,  and 
With  very  little  effect.  The  forces  of  the  enemy  consisted  of  500 
regulars,  and  about  800  Indians,  commanded  by  Diekson,  the 
whole  being  commanded  by  General  Proctor  in  person.  Tecum- 
seh  was  stationed  on  the  road  to  fort  Meigs  with  a  body  of  2000 
Indians,  expecting  to  intercept  a  reinforcement  on  that  route." 

The  enemy  had  directed  their  fire  against  the  northwestern 
angle  of  the  fort,  which  induced  the  commandant  to  believe  that 
an  attempt  to  storm  his  works  would  be  made  at  that  point.  In 
the  night  Captain  Hunter  was  directed  to  remove  the  six-pounder 
to  a  blockhouse  from  which  it  would  rake  that  angle.  By  great 
industry  and  personal  exertion,  Captain  Hunter  soon  accomplished 
this  object  in  secrecy.  The  embrasure  was  masked,  and  the  piece 
loaded  with  a  half  charge  of  powder,  and  double  charge  of  slugs 
and  grape  shot. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  2d,  the  enemy  opened  their  fire 
from  their  howitzer  and  three  six-pounders,  which  they  landed  in 
the  night  and  planted  in  a  point  of  woods  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  from  the  fort.  About  4  o'clock,  p.  m.,  that  day,  they 
concentrated  the  fire  of  all  their  guns  on  the  northwest  angle, 
which  convinced  Major  Croghan  that  they  would  endeavor  to 
make  a  breach  and  storm  the  works  at  that  point. 

Late  in  the  evening,  when  the  smoke  of  the  firing  had  com- 
pletely enveloped  the  fort,  the  enemy  proceeded  to  make  the 


ATTACK  ON  FORT  STEPHENSON— VALOR  OP  MAJ.  CROGHAN.    259 

assault.  Two  feints  were  made  towards  the  southern  angle,  where 
Captain  Hunter's  lines  were  formed ;  and  at  the  same  time  a 
column  of  350  men  were  discovered  advancing  through  the  smoke 
within  twenty  paces  of  the  northwestern  angle.  A  heavy,  galling 
fire  of  musketry  was  now  opened  upon  them  from  the  fort,  which 
threw  them  into  some  confusion.  Colonel  Short,  who  headed  the 
principal  column,  soon  rallied  his  men,  and  led  them  with  great 
bravery  to  the  brink  of  a  ditch  near.  After  a  momentary  pause, 
he  leaped  into  the  ditch,  calling  to  his  men  to  follow  him,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  it  was  full.  The  masked  porthole  was  now  opened, 
and  the  six- pounder,  at  the  distance  of  thirty  feet,  poured  such 
destruction  among  them,  that  but  few  who  had  entered  the  ditch 
were  fortunate  enough  to  escape.  A  precipitate  and  confused 
retreat  was  the  immediate  consequence,  although  some  of  the 
officers  attempted  to  rally  their  men.  The  other  column,  which 
was  led  by  Colonel  Warburton  and  Major  Chambers,  was  also 
routed  in  confusion  by  a  destructive  fire  from  the  line  commanded 
by  Captain  Hunter.  The  whole  of  them  fled  into  the  adjoining 
wood,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  small  arms  of  the  fort.  During  the 
assault,  which  lasted  half  an  hour,  the  enemy  kept  up  an  inces- 
sant fire  from  their  howitzer  and  five  six-pounders.  They  left 
Colonel  Short,  a  lieutenant,  and  twenty -five  privates  dead  in  the 
ditch ;  and  the  total  number  of  prisoners  taken,  was  twenty-six, 
most  oi  them  badly  wounded.  Major  Muir  was  knocked  down  in 
the  ditch,  and  lay  among  the  dead  till  the  darkness  of  the  night 
enabled  him  te  escape  in  safety.  The  loss  of  the  garrison  was 
one  killed  and  one  slightly  wounded.  The  total  loss  of  the  enemy 
was  calculated  at  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  killed  and  wounded. 

When  night  came  on,  which  was  soon  after  the  assault,  the 
wounded  in  the  ditch  were  found  to  be  in  a  desperate  situation. 
Complete  relief  could  not  be  brought  to  them  by  either  side  with 
any  degree  of  safety.  Major  Croghan,  however,  relieved  them  as 
much  as  possible — conveying  them  water  over  the  picketing  in 
buckets,  and  a  ditch  was  also  opened  under  the  picketing,  by  means 
of  which,  those  who  were  able  and  willing,  wer«  encouraged  to 
crawl  into  the  fort* 

About  3  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  3d,  the  whole  British 
and  Indian  force  commenced  a  disorderly  retreat.  So  great  was 
their  precipitation,  says  M'Aiee's  narration,  that  they  left  a  sail 
boat  pehind,  containing  some  clothing  and  a  considerable  quantity 
of  military  stores  ;  and  on  the  next  day  seventy  stand  of  arms 
and  some  braces  of  pistols  were  picked  up  round  the  fort  Their 
hurry  arid  confusion  was  caused  by  the  apprehension  of  an  attack 
from  General  Harrison,  of  whose  position  and  force  they  had 
probably  received  an  exagerated  account. 

At  the  council  held  with  M'Arthur,  Case,  and  others,  about  the 
1st  of  August,  it  was"  determined   that  Major   Croghan   should 
abandon  Fort  Stephenson  a.«  '•untenable  against,  heavy  artillery  ;" 
•M'Aflw 


260  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNB. 

and  as  this  fort  was  considered  as  of  but  little  value  as  a  military 
post,  it  Was  also  concluded  to  destroy  it  at  the  moment  of  evacua- 
tion. To  this  end  General  Harrison  immediately  dispatched  an 
order  to  Major  Croghan,  but  which,  owing  to  the  messenger  and 
his  Indian  guides  having  lost  their  way,  failed  to  reach  him  in  time, 
and  deeming  it  then  unsafe,  in  view  of  the  near  approach  of  the 
enemy,  to  attempt  an  evacuation  and  retreat,  after  a  council  with 
his  officers,  the  most  of  whom  readily  coincided  with  him,  Major 
Croghan  at  once  started  the  messenger  on  his  return  to  General 
Harrison  with  the  following  note  : 

•'  Sir,  I  have  just  received  yours  of  yesterday,  10  o'clock  P.  M., 
ordering  me  to  destroy  this  place  and  make  good  my  retreat,  which 
was  received  too  late  to  be  carried  into  execution.  We  have  de- 
termined to  maintain  this  place,  and  by  heaevns  we  can." 

His  main  reason  for  writing  thus  positively  was,  that  he  feared 
that  the  messenger  might  be  captured,  and  the  note  fall  into  the 
hands  of  jthe  British  ;  and  when  received  by  General  Harrison, 
without  knowing  fully  the  motive  of  Croghan  in  thus  replying  to 
his  order  of  evacuation  and  retreat,  presuming  it  to  indicate,  a 
disobeyal  of  orders,  on  the  following  morning,  Colonel  Wells,  with 
an  escort,  was  sent  to  take  his  place,  and  Croghan  at  once  order- 
ed to  repair  to  the  post  of  General  Harrison.  Arriving  at  the 
headquarters  of  General  Harrison,  Major  Croghan  readily  gave  a 
satisfactory  explanation  of  his  course  and  the  meaning  of  his  note, 
which  received  the  ready  approval  of  Harrison,  and  Croghan  was 
at  once  ordered  to  return  to  his  post  and  resume  its  command^ 
"•  with  written  orders  similar  to  those  he  had  received  before." 

In  an  official  report  of  Croghan's  course  in  this  siege,  General 
Harrison  said :  "  It  will  not  be  among  the  least  of  General  Proc- 
tOr's  mortifications,  to  find  that  he  has  been  baffled  by  a  youth, 
who  has  just  passed  his  twenty-first  year.  He  is,  however,  a  hero 
worthy  of  his  gallant  uncle,  George  K.  Clarke." 

All  under  his  command  at  this  siege  were  highly  praised  by  Ma- 
jor Croghan.  "  Never  was  there,"  said  General  Harrison,  "a  set 
of  finer  young  fellows,  viz  :  Lieutenants  Johnson  and  Baylor  of 
the  17th,  Anthony. of  the  24th,  Meeks  of  the  7th.  and  ensigns  Shipp 
and  Duncan  of  the  17th."  Lieutenant  Anderson,  of  the  24th,  wa* 
also  commended  for  marked  good  conduct  on  this  memorable 
oecasi©n  ;  and  soon  after  the  siege  of  Fort  Stephenson,  Major 
Croghan  was  breveted  a  Lieutenant-Colonel  by  President  Madi- 
son, then  President  of  the  United  States  ;  while  the  ladies  of  Chili- 
cothe,  Ohio,  presented  him  with  a  splendid  sword,  accompanied 
by  an  appropriate  address. 

A  little  party  of  Wyandott  Indians,  after  the  retreat  of  the 
British  from  Fort  Stephenson,  were  sent  clown  the  bay,  with  other 
scouts,  fi,r  the  purpose  of  intercepting  the  retreat  of  the  enemy. 
Succeeding  in  capturing  u  few  British  soldiers,  who  had  been  left 
In  the  general  retreat,  the  Indians  "  brought  them  to  the  camp, 


INDIAN  SCOUTS  AND  BRITISH  PRISONERS.  261 

without  doing  them  any  injury;  and,  conscious,"  says  M'Afee, 
"  that  they  had  done  their  duty,  they  were  frequently  seen  telling 
the  story  to  their  brother  warriors,  nnd  laughing  at  the  terror 
which  had  been  manifested  by  the  soldiers,  who,  no  doubt,  expec- 
ted to  be  massacred  or  carried  off  and  destroyed  by  torture." 


'/a  ^iO^\ls  A 


,    oJ  a*$€Ki  «T»»taofov  tiodm*?  -it 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

"  Come  thou,  old  Erie,  worthy  of  thy  name, 
Bearing  the  trophy  of  thy  hero's  i'ame — 

******* 

Perry  the  young,  Perry  the  bold  and  brave." 


Ohio  arid  Kentucky  again  aroused — Heavy  reinforcements— Operations  on  the  Lake — 
Commodore  Perry  in  command  of  the  Lake  fleet— Activity  of  the  British— Move- 
ment of  troops  from  Ohio  and  Kentucky — Heavy  engagement  on  the  Lake,  and 
victory  of  Commodore  Perry—The  British  commander  sends  out  a  reconnoitering1 
party— -Evacuation  and  destruction  of  Maiden—Arrival  of  the  American  forces  at 
Maiden— Retreat  of  the  British  towards  Sandwich— Restless  feeling  of  the  In- 
dians—Tec  umseh  proposes  an  abandonment  of  efforts  against  the  Americans— He 
sees  ruin  ahead— His  speech. 


OTH  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  from  which  points,  at  that  time,  and 
(during  some  years  previous,  was  derived  the  main  support 
the  West  in  a  military  point  of  view,  were  now  again 
aroused,  and  a  large  number  of  volunteers  came  forward  at 
the  call  of  Governors  Meigs  and  Shelby. 
The  general  attention  of  the  country  was  now  turned  to  opera- 
tions on  the  Lake,  of  which  the  British  then  had  the  main  con- 
trol, with  a  considerable  fleet  ailoat ;  and  it  became  most  impor- 
tant that  the  American  government  should  begin  to  exercise  the 
largest  industry  in  naval  affairs. 

Two  brigs  and  several  schooners  had  been  laid  at  Erie  early  in 
the  month  of  March  of  this  year,  (1813)  and  Commodore  Perry 
had  been  sent  to  superintend  their  construction  and  equipment. 
The  enemy  had  also  been  most  active  in  this  relation,  and  had 
built  a  twenty-gun  brig  at  Maiden. 

About  the  2d  of  August,  having  completed  his  equipments  and 
gotten  his  heaviest  vessels  over  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  har- 
bor, Perry  "crossed  the  Lake  to  Long  Point,  and  then  proceeded  up 
the  British  shore  some  distance  without  discovering  their  fleet, 
which  had,  in  fact,  returned  to  Maiden  for  their  new  brig  and  addi- 
tional reinforcements  on  discovering  the  force  which  Perry  was 
able  to  bring  against  them." 

About  the  9th  of  September,  volunteers  began  to  quit  Urbana, 


PERRY'S  VICTORY  ON  THE  LAKE.  263 

Ohio,  where  they  had  assembled  from  different  parts  of  that  State 
and  Kentucky,  for  Upper  Sandusky — the  Kentuckians  headed  by 
the  venerable  Governor  Shelby. 

In  the  meantime,  (on  the  10th)  the  vessels  on  the  Lake  had 
come  to  close  quarters ;  and  after  an  engagement  of  four  hours, 
during  which  time  it  was  most  difficult  to  determine  which  would 
succeed,  the  British  vessel  at  length  surrendered,  and  very  soou 
after,  much  as  if  the  heroic  spirit  of  Wayne  had  momentarily 
hovered  about  the  mind  of  Perry,  the  following  laconic  note  waa 
addressed  to  General  Harrison  : 

"  Dear  General — We  have  met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours — 
two  ships,  two  brigs,  one  schooner,  and  a  sloop. 

"  Youra,  with  great  respect  and  esteem, 

"  OLIVER  HAZARD  PERRY." 

Immediately -upon  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  loss  of  the 
British  vessels,  Proctor  had  sent  spies  to  reconnoiter  the  forces  of 
General  Harrison ;  who  soon  obtained  a  distant  view  of  the 
Kentuckians  while  encamped  on  the  plains  of  Sandusky,  at  once 
reporting  their  number  to  the  British  commander  at  from  ten  to 
fifteen  thousand. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  information,  Proctor  at  once  determined 
to  burn  Maiden,  and  make  good  his  retreat  up  the  Detroit  and 
Thames  rivers,  then  to  make  his  way  to  the  lower  parts  ef  the 
province.  Accordingly,  on  the  26th,  Maiden  was  evacuated  and 
destroyed. 

On  the  following  day,  (27th)  agreeble  to  previous  orders,  the 
American  army  .set  sail  from  the  Middle  Sister  Island  for  Alalden, 
where  the  whole  arrived  in  good  order  about  three  o'clock  in  thn 
afternoon  of  that  day,  only  to  behold  the  ruins  of  the  place. 
Proctor  had  retreated  to  Sandwich,  "  under  the  impression  that 
there  were  at  least  ten  thousand  Kentuckians  coming  against  him." 

The  Indians  in  the  service  of  the  British  had  BOW  become  very 
restless  and  uneasy.  General  Harrison  had  some  time  before  these 
events  sent  some  friendly  Wyandotts  among  the  Indians  allied  to 
the  British  with  a  view  to  neutrality  with  them.  Tecumseh  had 
previously  urged  an  abandonment  of  the  efforts  of  the  Indians 
against  the  Americans,  but  without  success;  and  the  efforts  of  the 
friendly  Wyandott?,  sent  by  the  General,  had  met  with  no  bettor 
success.  Some  15,000  rations  had  been  daily  issued  to  the  In- 
dians— warriors,  women  and  children — by  the  British,  for  some 
time  before  the  retreat  of  General  Proctor,  which  was  quite  ,a 
weight  upon  the  British  government — too  heary  to  be  bornw  Ion-;. 

The  impressive  mind  of  Tecumseh  saw  ruin  ahead.  He  did  nor 
like  or  approve  of  the  course  pursued  by  General  Proctor  in  tin.-, 
destruction  and  evacuation  of  Maiden.  As  early  as  the  18t,li  of 
September,  he  had  delivered  a  stirring  speech  to  the  British  com- 
mander, in  the  name  of  all  the  chiefs  and  warriors  in  the  employ 


264       ,  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

of  the  British,  which,  by  order  of  General  Proctor,  was  written 
down  and  preserved  by  him  until  the  defeat  of  the  British  at  the 
battle  of  the  Thames,  when,  among  other  papers  left  behind  by 
the  British  in  their  retreat  from  the  scene  of  the  conflict  there,  it 
was  found  and  brought  away  by  the  Americans.  As  the  repre- 
sentative of  their  British  father,  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  Te- 
currr>eh,  in  this  speech,  had  appealed  to  General  Proctor,  who, 
doubtless,  in  view  of  the  momentary  approach  upon  his  quarters 
at  Maiden  of  the  American  forces,  was  too  much  disturbed  to  hear 
tHe  words  of  Tecumseh  fully  explained  by  the  interpreter,  or  to 
read  the  speech  himself,  when  written  down.  Said  the  Shawanoe 
chieftain  i 

"  FATHER,  listen  to  your  children !  You  have  them  now  all  be- 
fore you. 

"  The  war  before  this,  our  British  father  gave  the  hatchet  to  his 
red  children,  when  our  old  chiefs  were  alive.  They  are  now  dead. 
In  the  war,  our  father  was  thrown  on  his  back  by  the  Americans, 
and  our  father  took  them  by  the  hand  without  our  knowledge  ;  and 
we  are  afraid  that  our  father  will  do  so  again  at  this  time. 
.  "  Summer  before  last,  when  I  came  forward  with  my  red  breth- 
ren, and  was  ready  to  take  up  the  hatchet  in  favor  of  our  British 
father,  we  were  told  not  to  be  in  a  hurry,  that  he  had  not  yet  de- 
termined to  fight  the  Americans. 

"  Listen  !  When  war  was  declared,  our  father  stood  up  and  gave 
us  t  he,  tomahawk  and  told  us  that  he  was  then  ready  to  strike  the 
Americans  ;  that  he  wanted  our  assistance  ;  and  that  he  would 
certainly  get  us  our  lands  back,  which  the  Americans  had  taken 
from  us. 

"  Listen  !  You  told  us,  at  that  time,  to  bring  forward  our  families 
to  this  place ;  and  we  did  so  ;  and  you  promised  to  take  care  of 
them,  and  they  should  want  for  nothing ;  while  the  men  would  go 
and  fight  the  enemy ;  that  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves  about 
the  enemy's  garrisons  ;  that  we  knew  nothing  about  them,  and  that 
our  father  would  attend  to  that  part  of  the  business.  You  also 
told  your  red  children  that  you  would  take  good  care  of  your  garri- 
son here,  which  made  our  hearts  glad. 

"  Listen  !  When  we  were  last  at  the  Rapids  it  is  true  we  gave 
you  little  assistance.  It  is  hard  to  fight  people  who  live  like 
groundhogs. 

"  tallier,  listen  !  Our  fleet  has  gone  out ;  we  know  they  have 
fought ;  we  have  heard  the  great  guns ;  but  we  know  nothing  of 
what  has  happened  to  our  father  with  that  arm.  Our  ships  hare 
gone  one  way,  and  we  are  much  astonished  to  see  our  father  tying 
up  every  thing  and  preparing  to  run  away  the  other,  without  let- 
ting his  red  children  know  what  his  intentions  are.  You  always 
told  us  to  remain  here  and  take  care  of  our  lands  ;  it  made  our 
hearts  glad  to  hear  that  was  your  -wish.  Our  great  father,  the  king, 


SPEECH  of  TECUMSEH  TO  THB  BRITISH  COMMANDER.  265 

is  the  head,  and  you  represent  him.  You  always  told  us  that  you 
would  never  draw  your  foot  off  British  ground  ;  but  now  father, 
we  see  you  are  drawing  back,  and  we  are  sorry  to  see  our  father 
doing  so  without  seeing  the  enemy.  We  must  compare  our  fath- 
er's conduct  to  a  fat  dog,  that  carries  its  tail  upon  its  back,  but 
when  afrighted,  it  drops  it  between  its  legs  and  runs  off. 

"  Father,  listen  !  The  Americans  have  not  yet  defeated  us  by 
land  ;  neither  are  we  sure  that  they  have  done  so  by  water ;  we 
therefore  wish  to  remain  here  and  fight  our  enemy,  should  they  make 
their  appearance.  If  they  defeat  us,  we  will  then  retreat  with  our 
father 

u  At  the  battle  of  the  Rapids,  last  war,  the  Americans  certainly 
defeated  us ;  and  when  we  retreated  to  our  father's  fort  at  that 
place  the  gates  were  shut  against  us.  We  were  afraid  that  it  would 
now  be  the  case  ;  but  instead  of  that,  we  now  see  our  British 
father  preparing  to  march  out  of  his  garrison. 

"  father !  You  have  got  the  arms  and  ammunition  which  our 
great  father  sent  for  his  red  children.  If  you  have  an  idea  of  go- 
ing away,  give  them  to  us,  and  you  may  go  and  welcome  for  us. 
Our  lives  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Great  Spirit.  We  are  determin- 
ed to  defend  our  lands,  and  if  it  be  his  will,  we  wish  to  leave  our 
bones  upon  them." 


:'  l.>  tr» , 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

"  The  victory's  lost  and  won  " — 
"  The  battle  'a  o'er  !  the  din  is  past  ; 
Bight's  mantle  on  the  field  is  cast." 
Long  live  those  honored  names — 
The  valiant  conquerors  of  the  Thames. 


Pursuit  of  the  British  from  Maiden—Harrison's  letter  to  the  War  Department— Fright 
and  flight  ot  the  Canadians— Capture  of  Tecumseh's  chief  counselor— His  account 
to  Colonel  Johnson— Discovery  of  the  bones  of  the  massacred  men  of  Frenchtowu 
—Excited  feelings  of  the  Kentuckians— Movement  of  the  army  in  the  pursuit  of 
the  British—Arrival  at  the  mouth  of  the  Thames— Capture  of  British  dragoons--- 
Auomen  of  victory— The  bird  of  Liberty  hovering  over  theanny  of  Harrison— A 
60\v-shoat  follows  the  army  from  Kentucky  to  Bass  Island— The  army  near  the 
Moravian  Towns— Capture  of  a  British  wagoner— The  British  army  near,  in  order 
of  battle,  lying  in  wait— Near  approach  of  Colonel  Johnson  to  the  British  lines— 
The  great  hour  of  defeat  or  victory  at  hand—Formidable  position  of  the  British 
and  Indians— Preparations  for  an  attack — Daring  plan  of  Colonel  Johnson— A 
sudden  dash  to  be  made  upon  the  British  lines— Advance  of  the  American  army 
Distant  fire  of  the  British— Intrepid  charge  of  the  cavalry  under  Johnson— Confu- 
.sion  and  flight  of  the  British— Contest  with  the  Indians— Pursuit  of  Proctor— His 
sword  arid  carriage  captured— Loss  sustained— Death  of  Tecumseh— Who  killed 
him  ?---Estimatesof  the  forces  of  the  armies—The  charge  of  the  mounted  infantry 
won  the  victory  of  the  Thames—Order  for  the  return  of  the  troops— Manly  and 
cheering  address  of  Governor  Shelby. 


HE  American  forces  having  encamped  about  the  ruins  of 
i  Maiden  on  the  night  of  the  27th  of  September,  with  a  view 
r>of  pursuing  the  retreating  army  of  Proctor  the  following- 
morning,  General  Harrison,  on  the  evening  of  the  arrival  of 
the  army,  in  a  letter  to  the  war  department,  said:  "I  will 
pursue  the  enemy  to-morrow,  although  there  is  no  probability  of 
overtaking  him,  as  he  has  upwards  of  1000  horses,  and  we  have 
not  one  in  the  army.  I  shall  think  myself  fortunate  to  collect  a 
sufficiency  to  mount  the  general  officers.  It  is  supposed  here,  that 
general  Proctor  will  establish  himself  upon  the  river  Trench,  or 
Thames,  40  miles  from  Maiden." 

Proctor  had  pressed  into  his  service  all  the  horses  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, which  they  had  not  effectually  concealed.  One  only,  and 
that  a  very  indifferent  one,  could  be  procured.  On  it  the  vener- 
able Governor  oi  Kentucky  was  mounted,  and  proceeded  with  the 


FLIGHT  OF  THE  CANADIANS.  267 

army  towards  Sandwich,  where  they  arrived  on  the  29th,  without 
meeting  any  obstruction  from  the  enemy ;  except  that  the  bridge 
over  the  Aux  Canada  river  had  been  torn  up,  but  was  soon  re- 
paired again.  There  had  been  considerable  expectation  among 
the  commanding  officers  that  a  formidable  resistance  would  be 
made  at  this  bridge,  but  no  enemy  was  to  be  seen ;  and  on  arriv- 
ing at  Sandwich  it  was  ascertained  that  General  Proctor  had  re- 
treated from  that  place  early  on  the  preceding  day.  The  Indians, 
however,  were  in  considerable  force  in  the  suburbs  of  Detroit,  the 
inhabitants  of  which,  who  had  already  been  very  much  plundered, 
were  in  great  apprehension  of  an  immediate  massacre ;  but  a  few 
discharges  of  grape  shot  from  the  fleet,  which  had  come  up  the 
river,  soon  compelled  them  to  fly  to  the  woods  for  safety.  General 
M' Arthur  went  over  with  his  brigade  and  took  possession  of  the 
town  ;  and  on  the  same  evening  General  Harrison  issued  his  proc- 
lamation for  re-establishing  the  civil  government  of  the  territory. 
All  persons  who  had  been  in  office  at  the  time  of  the  capitulation, 
were  directed  to  resume  their  functions,  and  administer  the  laws 
which  had  then  been  in  force.* 

The  Canadians,  like  the  Kaskaskians,  at  the  time  of  Clark's 
movement  upon  Kaskaskia,  in  1778,  had  heard  terrible  accounts 
of  the  barbarity  and  ferocity  of  the  Kentuckians,  and  on  the 
approach  of  the  American  forces,  had  fled  in  the  wildest  conster- 
nation and  fear,  expecting  to  be  massacred  and  plundered  by  the 
Long  Knives,  (the  Kentuckians)  but  in  this,  they  were  destined  to 
meet  with  agreeable  disappointment. 

On  the  20th  of  September,  Lieutenant  Griffith  having  returned 
with  a  scouting  party  from  the  river  Raisin,  brought  with  him  an 
Indian  by  the  name  of  Misselewetaw,  a  chief  counsellor  to  Tecum- 
seh,  and  uncle  to  the  famous  Logan.  He  had  led  the  Pigeon  Roost 
massacre,  as  detailed  in  a  former  chapter.  When  captured,  he  was 
asleep  in  a  house  at  the  river  Raisin.  He  told  Col.  Johnson,  says 
li'Afee,  that  the  Indians  had  been  watching  the  movements  of 
his  army:  had  examined  his  encampments,  and  seen  him  arrive  at 
fort  Meigs  ;  and  that  they  estimated  his  forces  to  be  at  least  2400. 
He  further  stated  that  the  Indians  about  Brownstown,  amounting 
to  1750  warriors,  had  determined  to  give  him  battle  at  the  river  Hu- 
ron— and  that  they  were  still  ignorant  of  the  fate  of  the  British  fleet. 
He  was  an  Indian  of  excellent  information,  and  had  been  the  con- 
stunt  companion  and  friend  of  Tecumseh.  Being  under  an  impres- 
sion that  he  would  now  certainly  have  to  die,  he  £>ave  Col.  Johnson 
a  long  and  apparently  very  candid  account  of  past  transactions, 
since  the  treaty  of  Greenville  to  that  time.  He  said  the  British 
had  supplied  the  Prophet's  party  with  arms  and  amunition  before 
the  battle  of  Tippccanoe ;  that  Tecumselrs  plan  for  a  common 
property  in  their  lands  had  been  strongly  recommended  and  praised 
by  Col.  Elliott ;  and  that  the  British  had  used  every  means  in  their 
power,  since  the  year  1809,  to  secure  the  friendship  and  aid  of  the 

•M'Afce. 


268  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

Indians,  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  the  United  States — having 
often  invited  them  to  Maiden  and  made  them  presents  for  that  pur- 
pose; and  having  also  represented  to  them  that  they  should  re- 
ceive British  aid  to  drive  the  Americans  over  the  Ohio  river,  after 
which  they  should  live  in  the  houses  of  the  inhabitants  and  have 
their  daughters  for  wives.  He  said  he  was  now  convinced  that 
the  British  had  again  deceived  them,  and  that  the  Great  Spirit  had 
forsaken  him  in  his  old  age  for  his  cruelty  and  wickedness. 

Since  the  massacre  of  the  river  Raisin,  the  bones  of  the  Ken- 
tuckians  had  remained  exposed  until  sometime  in  June,  1813,  when 
Colonel  R.  M.  Johnson  had  collected  and  buried  a  large  num- 
ber of  them,  which,  after  his  departure,  had  again  been  dug  up 
and  scattered  over  the  fields.  On  the  evening  of  the  25th  of  Sep- 
tember, orders  having  been  received  at  Fort  Meigs  for  the  regi- 
ment under  Colonel  Johnson  to  march  again  for  the  river  Raisin, 
on  the  following  morning,  after  due  preparation,  the  regiment  mov* 
ed  forward,  and  on  the  second  day  after  starting,  reached  the  scene 
of  massacre,  where  the  bones  of  the  slain  were  to  be  seen  scatter- 
ed about  in  every  direction.  Frenchtown  was  now  generally  de- 
serted, and  "  the  fine  orchards  of  peach  and  apple  trees  were  load- 
ed with  excellent  fruit."  "  The  sight  of  the  bones,"  says  Captain 
M'Afee,  "  had  a  powerful  effect  on  the  feelings  of  the  men.  The 
wounds  inflicted  by  that  barbarous  transaction,  were  again  torn 
open.  The  bleaching  bones  still  appealed  to  heaven  and  called  on 
Kentucky  to  avenge  this  outrage  on  humanity.  We  had  heard 
the  scene  described  before/'  Sdiys  he, — "  we  now  witnessed  it  in 
these  impressive  memorials.  The  feelings  they  excited  cannot  be 
described  by  me — but  they  will  never  be  forgotten — nor  while 
there  is  a  recording  angel  in  heaven,  or  a  historian  upon  earth, 
will  the  tragedy  of  the  river  Raisin  be  suffered  to  sink  into  obliv- 
ion. Future  generations  will  often  ponder  on  this  fatal  field  of 
blood ;  and  the  future  inhabitants  of  Frenchtown  will  long  point 
©ut  to  the  curious  traveler  the  garden  where  the  intrepid  Madison 
for  several  hours  maintained  the  unequal  contest  of  four  to  one, 
and  repulsed  the  bloody  Proctor  in  every  charge.  Yonder  is  the 
wood,  where  the  gallant  ALLEN  fell !  Here  the  accomplished  Hart 
and  Woolfolk  were  butchered !  There  the  brave  Hickman  wa« 
tomahawked  and  thrown  into  the  flames !  That  is  the  spot  ^rhere 
the  lofty  Simpson  breathed  his  last!  And  a  little  farther  doctors 
Montgomery,  Davis  and  M'Hvain,  amiable  in  their  manners  and 
profound  in  science,  fell  in  youth  and  left  the  sick  to  mourn  their 
loss  !  The  gallant  Meade  fell  on  the  bank  in  battle,  but  his  mag- 
nanimous lieutenant,  Graves,  was  reserved  for  massacre  !" 

At  this  point  an  express  arrived  from  the  main  army,  which  the 
messenger  had  left  on  the  Island  of  the  Middle  Sister  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  26th.  He  had  been  sent,  while  General  Harrison  was 
reconnoitering  off  Maiden,  by  the  attentive  and  watchful  Gover- 
nor of  Kentucky,  to  apprize  Colonel  Johnson  of  the  progress  and 


PDKSUIT  OP  THE  BRITISH  ARMY.  269 

4 

prospects  of  the  army,  that  he  might  regulate  his  march  accord- 
ingly. Next  morning,  before  the  regiment  marched,  their  faithful 
guide,  Anthony  Shane,  the  Shawanoe  half-breed,  observed  that  he 
knew  the  spot  where  Captain  Simpson  had  been  killed.  The 
Colonels,  with  Captain  M'Afee  and  Dr.  Ewing,  went  with  Shane 
to  the  place,  and  found  the  bones,  which  they  buried.  The  frame 
of  Captain  Simpson  was  easily  known  from  the  others,  by  its  length, 
the  Captain  having  been  upwards  of  six  feet  and  a  half  high.* 

On  the  30th  of  September,  the  whole  regiment  under  Colonel 
Johnson,  had  safely  reached  Detroit,  where  they  soon  crossed  the 
river  to  Sandwich. 

It  was  now  concluded,  in  a  council  between  General  Harrison 
and  Governor  Shelby,  that  Proctor  might  be  overtaken  in  three  or 
four  days'  rapid  marching ;  and  the  Governor  was  accordingly  re- 
quested to  collect  his  general  officers  at  headquarters,  with  a  view 
to  arrangements  for  the  plan  of  pursuit.  Two  courses  were  sug- 
gested— one,  to  follow  up  the  Strait  by  land — the  other,  to  embark 
.and  sail  down  Lake  Erie  to  Long  Point,  then  to  move  rapidly 
across  by  land,  some  twelve  miles,  to  the  ro'ad,  and  intercept -the 
course  of  the  enemy's  retreat.  Governor  Shelby  was  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  route  by  land,  up  the  Strait,  would  be  the  best:  which 
was  unanimously  agreed  upon  ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  2d  of 
October,  at  sunrise,  the  army  was  in  motion,  the  vessel  troops  mov- 
ing some  hours  in  advance  of  the.  brigade  of  General  Cass,  which 
was  detained  on  account  of  their  blankets  and  knapsacks  having 
been  left  at  the  Island  of  the  Middle  Sister.  The  mounted  regi- 
ments were  also  detained  a  short  time  in  drawing  provisions.  But 
alter  a  march  of  some  twelve  miles,  the  mounted  troops  over- 
took the  advance  corps. 

It  having  been  ascertained  that  the  Indian  chiefs,  Five  Medals 
and  Mai-pock,  with  other  chiefs,  in  connection  with  the  Miamies, 
Pottawattamies,  and  other  tribes,  had  remained  orf  the  west  side  of 
the  Detroit  river,  General  M'Arthur's  brigade  was  left  at  Detroit 
to  hold  them  in  check. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  armr  at  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  a 
fimall  body  of  British  dragoons  was  discovered  by  the  spies,  under 
Major  Sugget,  just  below  that  point,  who  were  pursued  and 
captured,  just  after  an  effort,  on  their  part,  to  destroy  a  bridge  over 
a  small  stream  near  the  place  of  capture.  "  This  little  affair,  the 
first  fruits  of  the  pursuit"  says  Captain  M'Afee,  '•  had  a  very  great 
effect  in  animating  the  pursuers." 

As  the  army  drew  up  at  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  all  eyes  wore 
turned  upward.  An  omen  of  victory  was  hovering  over  the  scene 
in  the  form  of  the  glorious  bird  of  Liberty — the  American  eagle! 
"  A  presage  of  success !  '•  remarked  General  Harrison ;  "  as  it  i* 
our  tutelary  bird.'?  A  similar  event  had  occurred  to  the  fleet  of 
Commodore  Perry,  before  his  victory,  on  the  morning  of  the  10th. 

of  September. 
*M'Af.*. 


.270    ,  HISTORY  OP  FORT  WAYNE. 

And  it  may  be  remarked  just  here  that  another  somewhat  singu- 
lar manifestation  was  presented  for  the  thoughtful  consideration 
and  amusement  of  the  army  just  prior  to  the  appearance  of  the- 
eagle  at  the  mouth  of  the  Thames.  A  so\v-shoat  had  followed  a 
company  of  mounted  volunteers  from  the  interior  of  Kentucky 
to  the  point  where  the  army  drew  up  for  further  order?  at  Lake  Erie. 
Keeping  "  constantly  with  the  army,  she  became  generally  known 
to  the  soldiers,  who  called  her  the  governor's  pig,  and  were  care- 
ful to  protect  her,  as  they  deemed  her  conduct  an  auspicious  omen. 
At  the  margin  of  the  lake."  runs  the  account,  "  she  embarked  with 
the  troops  and  went  as  far  as  Bass  island/'  Being  offered  a  pas- 
sage into  Canada  from  this  point,  she  k<  obstinately  refused  to  em- 
bark the  second  time;"  and  though  her  conduct  was  jocosely 
attributed  "  to  constitutional  scruples  " — some  of  the  men  of  the 
army  humerously  suggesting  that  "  it  was  contrary  to  the  consti- 
tution to  force  a  militia  pig  over  the  line,"  yet  she  could  not  by 
any  means  be  pursuaded  to  cross  over  to  Canada,  and  was  accor- 
dingly permitted  to  "return  to  the  regiment  at  Portage." 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  October,  the  army  was  again 
in  motion,  and  continued  its  march,  without  special  interruption, 
until  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Moravian  Towns,  some  ninety 
miles  northeast  of  Detroit,  where,  capturing  a  British  wagoner, 
the  army  received  the  intelligence  that  >c  the  enemy  were  lying  in 
order  of  battle  about  three  hundred  yards  before  them,"  awaiting 
the  approach  of  the  American  forces.  Colonel  Johnson,  with 
Major  Sugget  and  his  spies,  now  advanced  within  view  of  the 
British  lines,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  as  much  information  as 
possible  as  to  the  position,  &c.,  of  the  enemy,  whi<?h  was  readily 
communicated  to  General  Harrison. 

The  great  hour  that  was  to  decide  the  triumph  of  American 
arms  in  the  full  establishment  and  maintenance  of  political  rule 
over  the  vast  territory  of  the  Great  West  was  now  at  hand ;  and 
the  forces  under  General  Harrison  were  halted  and  formed  for  the 
conflict ! 

The  British  commander  had  selected  a  formidable  position  for 
the  prosecution  of  his  plan  of  attack.  The  ground  upon  which 
the  British  forces  had  halted  extended  along  near  the  margin  of 
the  river  Thames,  the  ground  being  covered  principally  with 
beech,  sugar-tree,  and  oak  timber,  with  but  little  underbrush. 
Running  nearly  parallel  with  the  river,  for  about  two  miles,  was 
a  somewhat  extensive  marsh,  which  grew  narrower.as  one  advanc- 
ed up  the  stream.  Where  the  British  forces  were  stationed,  there 
was  a  narrow  swamp,  some  three  hundred  yards  from  the  Thames, 
lying  between  which  and  the  main  swamp  extending  up  the  river, 
there  appeared  a  spot  of  solid  ground.  In  two  lines,  their  left 
resting  on  the  river,  and  their  right  extending  to  the  first  swamp, 
Ihe  British  regulars  were  ranged,  with  their  artillery  planted  in 
the  road,  near  the  bank  of  the  river.  The  Indians,  all  ranged  a'ong- 


BATTLR  OP  THE  THAMES.  271 

the  first  swamp,  their  left  at  a  point  where  Tecurnseh  commanded, 
occupying  "  the  isthmus  between  the  swamps,  on  which  the  un- 
dergrowth was  tolerably  thick ;  a«d  their  right  extending  a  con- 
siderable distance  down  the  main  marsh,  the  margin  of  which,  at 
this  place,  receding  very  fast  from  the  river,  formed  a  very  obtuse 
angle  with  the  lines  "  of  the  American  forces. 

At  the  out-set,  in  the  order  of  arrangement  for  battle,  the  mount- 
ted  regiment  under  Colonel  Johnson  occupied  the  space  between 
the  river  and  the  first  swamp.  On  approaching  this  regiment 
and  learning  of  the  discovery  ol  the  enemy,  as  well  as  satisfying 
himself  as  to  the  situation  of  the  British  forces,  by  personal  obser- 
vation, General  Harrison  at  once  directed  Colonel  Johnson,  on  the 
approach  of  the  infantry,  to  assume  a  position  at  the  left,  from 
thence,  if  possible,  to  turn  the  right  of  the  Indians. 

The  British  regulars  were  drawn  up  in  open  order.  A  daring 
plan  was  now  readily  conceived  by  Colonel  Johnson,  and  as  quick- 
ly agreed  upon.  It  was  for  the  mounted  infantry  to  make  a  sud- 
den dash  upon  the  British  lines,  confusing  and  breaking  them  at 
once  ;  and  the  two  mounted  regiments  were  accordingly  ordered 
to  be  formed  "in  two  charging  columns,  in  short  lines,  and,  on  re- 
ceiving the  enemy's  fire,  to  charge  through  his  ranks,  form  in  his 
rear,  and  act  as  circumstances  might  require." 

The  rear  and  flanks  being  well  secured  against  attacks,  the  foot 
troops,  embracing  five  brigades,  averaging  some  three  hundred 
men  each,  were  well  arranged  along  the  rear,  the  river,  the  swamp, 
the  road,  near  the  river,  <fcc.,  and  Governor  Shelby  was  ordered  to 
take  his  position — a  very  important  one — at  the  angle  between  the 
swamps,  while  General  Harrison  took  his  position  at  the  head  of 
the  front  line,  in  order  the  better  to  observe  the  charge,  and  ren- 
der ready  and  efficient  support  to  the  horsemen. 

All  was  now  readiness  for  the  charge;  and  "the  whole  army 
advanced  in  the  order  "  already  presented,  "  until  the  front  of  the 
first  battalion  received  a  distant  fire  from  the  British  lines,"  which 
"  somewhat  frightened  the  horses,  and  caused  a  little  confusion  at 
the  heads  of  the  columns  ;  thus  retarding  the  charge,  and  giving 
the  enemy  time  to  prepare  for  a  second  fire,  which  soon  followed 
the  first."  But  in  a  moment,  the  American  columns  "were  com- 
pletely in  motion,  and  rushed  upon  the  British  with  irresistable 
impetuosity,"  causing  their  front  line  to  precipitately  break  away 
in  every  direction,  and  their  second,  also,  some  thirty  paces  in  the 
rear  of  the  front  line,  after  a  single  fire,  "was  broken  and  thrown 
into  confusion."  The  grand  idea  of  the  onset  of  the  mounted 
troops  under  Colonel  Johnson  had  now  consummated  its  pur- 
pose ;  and  sure  victory  at  every  point  was  already  perching  upon 
the  American  banner.  The  bird  of  Liberty  had  indeed  proved 
"a  presage  of  success;"  and  he  had  not  yet  ceased  to  spread 
his  g-lorious  pinions  over  the  region  of  the  scene  of  conflict !  Such 
was  the  patriotic  fervor  and  heroism  of  that  eventful  hour  of  our 


272  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

country's  history — such  the  fierce  contest  between  the  reced- 
ing monarchial  element  of  the  time,  seeking  dominion  and  control 
over  the  northwest,  with  a  view  to  the  overthrow  of  Republicanism, 
and  the  supplanting  upon  the  ruins  thereof  the  power  and  rule  of 
of  the  British  crown,  on  one  hand,  and  the  valiant  pioneer  soldiery 
and  patriots  of  the  West,  striving  to  widen  the  avenues  of  free 
institutions,  free  government — to  open  the  broad  domain  of  the 
Great  West  for  the  cultivation  of  a  boundles  unity  of  goodness, 
order,  truth,  industry,  and  all  the  conditions  and  elements  then 
and  thereafter  germanly  pertaining  to  the  welfare,  general  well- 
being,  progressive  education,  and  safety  of  a  free  people — the 
protection  and  perpetuation  of  a  generous  and  progressive  govern- 
ment, on  the  other.  And  the  powerful  will  of  the  latter,  intensi- 
fied and  impelled  by  a  broad  and  glorious  spirit  and  sense  of  free- 
dom and  hope  of  future  governmental  unity,  charged  upon  the 
enemy  with  an  undaunted  and  even  reckless  determination  to 
achieve  the  end  sought  to  be  attained,  viz  :  an  unconditional  victory 
over  a  common  foe  to  republican  institutions  and  a  free,  un- 
trammeled  government ! 

At  this  stage  of  the  conflict,  the  American  columns,  having  now 
passed  through  the  broken  lines  of  the  enemy,  "  wheeled  to  the 
right  and  left,  and  began  to  pour  a  destructive  fire  on  the  rear  of 
their  disordered  ranks  ;  "  but  the  contest  was  only  momentary — for, 
says  the  narration  of  the  very  truthful  and  intelligent  Captain 
M'Afee,  a  participant  in  this  eventful  struggle,  "No  sooner  had  our 
horsemen  charged  through  their  lines  and  gained  their  rear,  than 
they  began  to  surrender  as  fast  as  they  could  throw  down  their 
arms.  And  thus,  in  a  moment,  the  whole  British  force,  upwards 
of  eight  hundred  strong,  was  totally  vanquished,  and  the  greater 
part  of  it  captured  by  the  first  battalion  of  the  mounted  regiment 
under  lieutenant-colonel  James  Johnson,  before  the  front  line  of 
our  infantry  had  got  fairly  in  view  of  them.  General  Proctor, 
however,  made  his  escape,  escorted  by  a  small  party  of  dragoons 
and  mounled  Indians,  who  were  immediately  pursued  as  far  as  the 
Moravian  town,  by  a  party  of  the  mounted  regiment,  consisting 
chiefly  of  officers. 

"  The  contest  with  the  Indians  on  the  left,"  continues  the  narra- 
tion of  M'Afee,  "  wras  more  obstinate.  They  reserved  their  fire  till 
the  heads  of  the  columns  and  the  front  line  on  foot  had  approach- 
ed within  a  few  paces  of  their  position.  A  very  destructive  fire 
wa«  then  commenced  by  them,  about  the  time  the  firing  ceased 
between  the  British  a*d  the  first  battalion.  Colonel  Johnson, 
finding  his  advanced  guard,  composing  the  head  of  his  column, 
nearly  all  cut  down  by  the  first  fire,  and  himself  severely  wound- 
ed, immediately  ordered  his  column  to  dismount  and  come  up  in 
line  before  the  enemy,  the  ground  which  they  occupied  being  un- 
favorable for  operations  on  horseback.  The  line  was  promptly 
formed  on  foot,  and  a  fierce  conflict  was  then  maintained  for  seven 


BATTLE  OP  THE  THAMES — FLIGHT  OP  PROCTOR.  273 

i 

or  eight  minutes,  with  considerable  execution  on  both  sides  ;  but 
the  Indians  had  not  sufficient  firmness  to  sustain  very  long  a  fire 
which  was  close  and  warm,  and  severely  destructive.  They  gave 
way  and  fled  through  the  brush  into  the  outer  swamp,  not,  how- 
ever, before  they  had  learnt  the  total  discomfiture  of  their  allies, 
and  had  lost,  by  the  fall  of  Tecumseh,  a  chief  in  whom  were  unit- 
ed the  prowess  of  Achilles  and  authority  of  Agamemnon. 

"  As  soon  as  the  firing  commenced  between  the  Indians  and  the 
second  battalion,  Governor  Shelby,  who  was  posted  at  the"  crotchet 
in  its  rear,  immediately  ordered  that  part  of  the  front  line  of  in- 
fantry which  lay  between  the  first  swamp  and  the  crotchet,  being 
a  part  of  Colonel  Donelson's  regiment,  to  march  up  briskly  to  the 
aid  of  the  mounted  men.  They  rushed  up  accordingly  into  Colo- 
nel Johnson's  lines,  and  participated  in  the  contest  at  that  point. 
This  was  the  only  portion  of  the  infantry  which  had  an  opportunity 
of  engaging  in  any  part  of  the  battle.  The  Governor  also  dis- 
patched General  Adair,  his  aid-de-camp,  to  bring  up  the  brigade 
of  General  King  to  the  front  line  ;  but  before  this  could  be  accom- 
plished the  enemy  had  fled  from  Colonel  Johnson,  and  a.  scattering, 
running  fire  had  commenced  along  the  swamp,  in  front  of  General 
Desha's  division,  between  the  retiring  Indians  and  the  mounted 
men  in  pursuit,  who  were  now  commanded  by  Major  Thompson 
alone,  Colonel  Johnson  having  retired  in  consequence  of  his 
wounds.  This  firing  in  the  swamp  continued,  with  occasional 
remissions,  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  during  which  time  the  contest 
was  gallantly  maintained  by  .Major  Thompson  and  his  men,  who 
were  still  pressing  forward  on  the  Indians.  Governor  Shelby  in 
the  meantime  had  rode  down  to  the -left  of  General  Desha's  divis- 
ion, and  ordered  the  regiment  of  Colonel  Sim  rail,  which  was  post- 
ed on  the  extreme  left,  to  march  up  on  the  right  flank  of  the  enemy 
in  aid  of  Major  Thompson  ;  but  before  this  reinforcement  could 
reach  the  scene  of  action,  the  Indians  had  given  up  the  contest. 

"  Soon  after  the  British  force  had  surrendered,  and  it  was  discov- 
ered that  the  Indians  were  yielding  on  the  left,  General  Harrison 
ordered  Major  Payne  to  pursue  General  Proctor  with  a  part  of  his 
battalion  ;  which  was  promptly  done,  and  the  pursuit  continued, 
by  the  greater  part  of  the  detachment,  to  the  distance  of  six  miles 
beyond  the  Moravian  town,  some  Indians  being  killed,  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  prisoners,  with  a  large  quantity  of  plunder, 
captured  in  their  progress.  Majors  Payne,  Wood,  Todd,  and 
and  Chambers  ;•  Captain  Langham,  and  Lieutenants  Scorgin 
Bell,  with  three  privates,  continued  the  pursuit  several  miles  furth- 
er, till  night  came  upon  them — but  Proctor  was  not  to  be  taken. 
*  *  #  *  *  #  * 

The  pursuers,  however,  at  last  pressed  him  so  closely,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  abandon  the  road,  and  his  carriage  and  sword  were  cap- 
tured by  the  gallant  Major  Wood.  The  prisoners,  about  50  in 
number,  were  brought  back  to  the  Moravian  town,  where  they 


/IRS 


274  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYJTE, 

were  left  in  charge  of  Captain  M'Afee,  with  100  mounted  men, 
until  Major  Gano  arrived,  about  midnight,  with  a  reinforcement  of 
150  infantry.  At  the  head  of  the  town,  six  pieces  of  brass  artillery 
were  taken,  three  of  which  had  been  captured  in  the  revolution, 
at  Saratoga  and  York,  and  surrendered  again  by  Hull  in  Detroit 

"  The  exact  loss  which  either  side  sustained  in  this  battle,"  con- 
tinues Captain  M'Afee,  '•  has  never  been  correctly  known.  Accord- 
ing to  the  best  information,  however,  which  has  been  received,  the 
total  loss  of  the  mounted  regiment  on  that  day,  was  17  killed  and 
30  wounded.  The  loss  of  the  infantry  was  much  less,  though  con- 
siderable also,  at  the  point  where  they  reinforced  Colonel  Johnson, 
which  was  the  principal  theatre  of  our  losses.  The  Indians  left 
thirty-three  dead  on  the  battle  ground,  and  had  ten  or  twelve  killed 
in  different  places  by  their  pursuers.  The  British  had  18  killed 
and  26  wounded,  besides  600  prisoners  captured,  including  25 
officers.  Among  our  killed  was  Colonel  Whitley,  a  veteran  who 
had  been  a  distinguished  soldier  in  former  Indian  wars,  and  had 
been  no  less  conspicuous  and  serviceable  in  the  present  campaign, 
in  whcih  the  accompanied  Colonel  Johnson.  Captain  Craig  and 
Lieutenant  Logan  died  of  their  wounds  a  few  days  after  the  battle. 
Col.  Johnson  and  Captains  Davidson  and  Short  were  also  wound- 
ed severely,  but  recovered.  The  Colonel,  was  shot  through  his 
thigh  and  in  his  hip,  by  the  first  fire  of  the  Indians  ;  and  shortly 
afterwards  he  was  shot  through  his  left  hand,  by  a  ball  which  rang- 
ed up  his  arm,  but  did  not  enter  his  body,  He  continued,  howev- 
er, in  front  of  his  men,  gallantly  fighting  the  enemy  as  long  as  the 
action  lasted  at  that  place.  The  white  mare  on  which' he  rode 
was  also  shot  so  severely  that  she  fell  and  expired  soon  after  she 
had  carried  her  rider  within  the  lines  of  the  infantry. 

"  Tecumseh  was  found  among  the  dead  at  the  point  where  Col. 
Johnson  had  charged  upon  the  enemy  in  person ;  and  it  is  gener* 
ally  believed  that  this  celebrated  chief  fell  by  the  hand  of  the 
Colonel.*  It  is  certain  that  the  latter  killed  the  Indian  with  his 
pistol  who  shot  him  through  his  hand,  at  the  very  spot  where  Te- 
eumseh  lay ;  but  another  dead  body  lay  at  the  same  place,  and 
Mr.  King,  a  soldier  in  Captain  Davidson's  company,  had  the  honor 
of  killing  one  of  them. 

"  From  the  best  information  that  has  been  received,  it  appears 
that  there  was  no  material  difference  in  the  strength  of  the  two 
armies  in  this  battle.  The  troops  under  Harrison  had  been  great- 
ly reduced  in  number  by  detachments  left  as  guards  and  for  other 
purposes,  and  by  those  who  were  sick  and  otherwise  unable  to 

£  The  question  as  to  who  killed  Tecuinseh  ?  has  never  been  decided,  Drake,  in  his 
interesting  life  of  this  noted  chief,  deroti-s  some  twenty  page?  to  the  solution  of  this  long 
unanswered  question,  but  only  to  arrive  at  the  sage  conclusion,  that  somebody  killed 
the  Shawanoe  Chieftain  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames. 

WMIe  fiialung  a  political  spcfech  at  St.  Louis,  some  years  subsequent  to  the  struggles 
pf  JSJ.2-14,  a  vjoiee  In  the  crowd  asked  "  who  killed  Tecumseh?  "  To  which  Col.  John- 
son replied ;  "  I  cannot  tel'- it  is  probable  that  I  did  it,  but  equally  probable  that  I 
did'atk."  0*0  9f  9»r  Wsvbtfn  poets,  the  late  Charles  A*  Jones,  Esq.,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio 


TRIBUTE  TO  TECUMSEH.  275 

keep  up  on  forced  marches.  The  distance  from  Sandwich  to  the 
Moravian  town  is  upwards  of  eighty  miles,  which  our  srmy  march- 
ed in  three  days  and  a  half,  though  frequently  harrassed  by  skir- 
mishing and  forming  in  order  of  battle,  and  delayed  by  repairing 
bridges  and  procuring  supplies.  A  body  of  Undisciplined  militia, 
urged  along  and  regulated  alone  by  their  patriotism  and  military 
ardor,  would  necessarily  be  much  reduced  by  such  a  journey.  The 
whole  of  the  regulars  had  been  left  behind,  except  the  small  frag- 
ment of  a  regiment  under  Colonel  Paul.  The  brigade  of  General 
M'Arthur  had  been  left  at  Detroit  to  protect  the  inhabitants  against 
the  Indians ;  and  that  of  General  Cass  had  been  left  at  Sandwich, 
waiting  for  the  baggage  of  the  men,  which  delayed  them  so  long 
that  they  were  unable  to  come  up  with  the  army  before  the  battle 
had  been  fought.  The  whole  way  from  Sandwich  to  the  battle 
groiand  was  filled  with  scattering  parties  of  the  militia.  Hence, 
otir  force  at  the  place  of  action  was  believed  to  be  less  than  2500 
men,  which  was  v«ry  little  more  than  the  force  actually  engaged 
on  the  part  of  the  enemy.  The  British  part  of  that  force  appears 
to  have  been  about  845  strong.  Its  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
captured,  was  645  ;  and  the  adjutant-general  of  the  British  forces 

some  years  ago,  in  the  Columns  of  the  "HESPERIAN,"  paid  the  following  beautiful  tribute 
to  the  great  Warrior  : 

"  TECUMSEH,  THE  LAST  KING  OF 'THE  OHIO. 

"  Where  rolls  the  dark  and  turbid  Thames,"  Art  thou  a  soldier? — dost  thou  not 

His  consecrated  wave  along,  O'er  deeds  chivalric  love  to  muse  ? 

Sl'eeps  one,  than  whose,  few  are  the  names  Here  stay  thy  steps — what  holier  spot 

More  worthy  of  the  lyre  and  song  j  Coulcfct  thou  for  contemplatitn  choose 

Yet  o'er  whose  spot  of  lone  repose  The  earth  beceith  is  holy  ground, 

No  pilgrim  eyes  are  seen  to  weep  ;  It  holds  a  thousand  valiant  braves; 

Amd  no  memorial  marble  throws  Tread  lightly  o'er  each  little  mound, 

Its  shadow  where  his  ashes  sleep.  For  they  are  no  ignoble  graves. 

"Stop, Stranger,  there  Tecumseh  lies  ;            "  Thermopylae  and  Marathon, 

Behold  the  lowly  resting  place  Though  classic  earth,  can  boast  no  more 

Of  O'll  that  of  the  hero  dies  ;  Of  deeds  heroic  than  yon  sun 

The  Csesar — Tully— of  his  race,  Once  saw  upon  this  lonely  shore, 

Whose  arm  of  strength  and  firey  tongue,  When  in  a  gallant  nation's  last 

Have  won  him  an  immortal  name,  And  deadliest  struggle,  for  its  own, 

An4  froln  the  mouths  of  millions  Wrung  Tecum  e'l's  fiery  spirit  passed 

Reluctant  tribute  to  his  fame.  Inblojd,  and  sought  his  father's  throne. 

*•  Stop-— for  'tis  glory  claims  thy  tear,  "  Oh,  softly  fall  the  summer  dev, 

True  worth  belongs  to  all  mankind,  The  tears  of  Heaven  upon  his  sod, 

And  he  whose  ashes  slumber  here,  For  he  in  life  and  death  was  true, 

Though  man  in  form,  was  God  in  mind;        Both  to  his  country  and  his  god; 

What  matter  he-was  not  like  thee,  For  oh,  if  God  to  man  has  given, 

In  race  or  color? — 'tis  the  soul  From  his  bright  home  beyond  the  skies 

That  marks  man's  true  divinity—  One  feeling  that's  akin  to  Heaven, 

Then  let  not  shame  they  tears  control.  'Tis  his  who  for  his  country  dies. 

*'  Art    thou  a  patriot  ? — so  was  he —  Rest,  xvarrior,  rest — though  not  a  dirge 

His  breast  was  Freedom's  holiest  shrine;        Is  thine  beside  the  wailing  blast; 

And  as  thou  bendeat  there  thy  knee,  Time  cannot  in  oblivion  merge 

His  spirit  wilj  unitb  with  thine;  The  light  thy  star  of  glory  cast; 

All  that  a  man  can  give,  he  gave—  While  heave  yon  high  hills  to  the  sky, 

His  life — the  country  of  his  sires  While  rolls  yon  dark  and  turbid  river, 

From  the  oppressor's  grasp  to  save —  Thy  name  and  fame  can  never  die — 

ID  vain— quenched  are  hiq  nation's  fire*        Whom  Freedom  loves  will  live  forever. 


276  HISTORY  or  FORT  WAYNE. 

soon  afterwards  officially  acknowledged  that  204  of  those  who 
escaped  had  assembled  at  Ancaster  on  the  17th  of  October.  This 
calculation  is  also  confirmed  by  the  official  return  of  the  troops  at 
Maiden  on  the  10th  of  September,  which  made  them  9M  in  num- 
ber— affording  an  excess  of  100  above  our  estimate  to  meet  the 
losses  experienced  on  tne  retreat  before  the  battle.  As  for  the 
amount  of  their  Indian  force,  when  it  is  shown  by  their  own  offi- 
cial papers,  captured  with  the  army,  that  15,000  rations  were  issu- 
ed daily  to  the  Indians  before  the  retreat,  and  that  the  greater 
part  of  them  accompanied  Proctor  up  the  Thames,  it  is  certainly  a 
reasonable  calculation  to  estimate  them  at  15,  18,  or  even  20  hun- 
dred warriors  in  the  battle.  The  whole  force  of  the  allies  must 
hence  have  been  at  least  considerably  above  2000 — yet  a  large 
portion  of  that  force  was  captured,  and  the  balance  entirely  driv- 
en off  by  the  single  regiment  under  Johnson,  aided  at  one  point 
only  by  a  portion  of  the  infantry,  and  making  altogether,  it  is  be- 
lieved, much  less  than  half  the  army.  But  had  our  force  been 
greatly  superior,  the  nature  of  the  ground,  and  position  of  the 
enemy,  would  have  rendered  its  superiority  useless  ;  for  a  larger 
force  than  his  could  not  have  been  brought  efficiently  into  action, 
had  his  resistance  been  so  great  as  to  render  it  necessary.  The 
mounted  regiment  had  but  950  men  in  the  battle — hence  the  force 
of  the  battalion,  which  was  led  into  action  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
James  Johnson,  could  not  have  been  much  more  than  half  as  great 
as  the  British  force,  which  it  shattered  in  a  moment  by  its  impetu- 
ous charge* 

"Our  important  and  "glorious  victory,  it  is  evident,  was  princi- 
pally achieved  by  the  novel  expedient  of  charging  through  the 
British  lines  with  mounted  infantry.  'The  measure,'  says  General 
Harrison,  who  conceived  it  at  the  moment  for  its  execution^ '  was 
not  sanctioned  by  anything  I  had  seen  or  heard,  but  I  was  fully 
convinced  that  it  would  succeed.  The  American  backwoodsmen 
ride  better  in  the  woods  than  any  other  people.  A  musket  or  rifle 
is  no  impediment  to  them,  being  accustomed  to  carry  it  on  horse- 
back from  their  earliest  youth.  I  was  pursuaded,  too,  that  the 
enemy  would  be  quite  unprepared  for  the  shock,  and  that  they 
could  not  resist  it.'  The  shock  was  indeed  so  unexpected  and  im- 
petuous that  all  the  resistance  they  were  able  to  make  amounted 
to  nothing.  Two  or  three  killed,  and  a  few  more  wounded,  was 
all  the  execution  done  by  upwards  of  eight  hundred  veteran*,  many 
of  whom  surrendered  without  giving  a  second  fire.  '  It  is  really 
a  novel  thing,'  says1  Colonel  Wood,  <  that  raw  militia,  stuck  upon 
horses,  with  muskets  in  their  hands,  instead  of  sabres,  should  be 
able  to  pierce  British  lines  with  such  complete  effect,  as  did  John- 
son's men  in  the  affair  upon  the  Thames  ;  and  perhaps  the  only 
circumstance  which  could  justify  that  deviation  from  the  loag 
established  rules  of  the  art  military,  is  the  complete  success  of  the 
result.  Great  generals  are  authorized  to  step  asid«  occasionally — 


INDIANS  TO  DELIVER  THEIR  PRISONEBS  AT  FORT  WAYNE.        277 

especially  when  they  know  that  their  errors  will  not  be  noticed  by 
the  adversary." 

On  the  6th  the  American  troops  continued  to  occupy  the  battle 
ground,  and  the  Moravian  town,  about  two  miles  above  it,  being 
employed  in  burying  the  dead  and  collecting  the  public  property  of. 
the  enemy,  of  which  a  considerable  quantity  was  found  in  different 
places.  In  addition  to  the  artillery  already  mentioned,  and  a  great 
variety  of  military  stores,  there  were  at  least  5000  stand  of  small 
arms  captured  by  the  American  troops  and  destroyed  by  the  ene- 
my on  this  expedition.  A  large  proportion  of  them  had  been  taken 
at  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  the  massacre  of  the  river  Raisin,  and 
the  defeat  of  Colonel  Dudley.  Early  on  the  7th,  Gen.  Harrison 
left  the  army  under  the  immediate  command  of  Governor  Shelby 
and  returned  to  Detroit ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  same  day  the 
different  corps  commenced  their  return  home,  having  embarked  the 
greater  part  of  the  property  they  had  captured  in  boats  on  the 
Thames,  and  set  fire  to  the  Moravian  town,  which  was  a  very  in- 
considerable village,  occupied  chiefly  by  Delaware  Indians,  who 
professed  to  be  of  the  Moravian  sect  of  religion.  On  the  10th  all 
the  troops  arrived  with  their  prisoners  at  Sandwich.  It  now  began 
to  snow,  and  the  weather  was  extremely  cold  and  stormy.  For  two 
or  three  days  the  wind  blew  down  the  .  strait  with  such  violence, 
that  it  was  impracticable  to  cross  it,  and  the  vessels  bringing  down 
the  public  property,  were  greatly  endangered,  and  much  of  it  was 
lost. 

In  the  meantime,  an  armistice  was  concluded  by  Gen.  Harrison 
with  the  Indians.  Before  he  marched  in  pursuit  of  the  British,  a 
deputation  of  Ottawas  and  Chippewas  had  sued  for  peace,  which 
he  had  promised  them  on  condition  that  they  would  bring  in  their 
families,  and  raise  the  tomahawk  against  the  British.  To  these 
terms  they  had  readily  acceded  ;  and  before  his  return  the  Miamies 
and  Pottawattamies  had  solicited  a  cessation  of  hostilities  from 
General  M'Artur  on  the  same  conditions.  Even  the  ferocious  and 
inveterate  Mai-pock,  of  the,  Pottawattamies,  now  tendered  his  sub- 
mission, and  an  armistice  was  concluded  with  seven  of  the  hostile 
tribes,  which  was  to  continue  till  the  pleasure  of  the  President  was 
known.  They  agreed  to  deliver  up  all  their  prisoners  at  Fort  Wayne, 
and  to  leave  hostages  in  security  for  their  good  behavior.  Sepa- 
rated from  their  allies,  by  the  American  victories  on  the  Lake  and 
the  Thames,  from  whom  they  had  received  subsistence  and  council, 
they  were  now  glad  to  accept  the  American  friendship  on  any 
terms,  which  would  save  them  .from  extermination  by  famine  and 
the  sword.* 

On  the  12th  the  storm  had  so  far  abated,  that  the  mounted  regi- 
ment crossed  over  the  strait  to  Spring  Wells;  and  on  the  next  day 
the  Kentucky  infantry  crossed  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Rouge. 

On  the  20th  of  Oct»ber,  a  general  order  having  been  issued  for 

*M'Afee. 


278  HISTORY  OF  FOET  WAYNE. 

the  return  of  the  troops  to  Kentucky,  Governor  Shelby  said :  "  Al- 
though, in  the  course  of  this  campaign,  you  necessarily  encountered 
many  difficulties  and  privations,  yet  they  were   met   with  that 
cheerfulness,  and  sustained  with  that  manly  fortitude  which  the  oc- 
casion required.     The  uninterrupted  good  fortune  which  has  attend-, 
ed  us,  is  a  source  of  the  most  pleasing  reflection,  and  cannot  fail  to 
excite  the  warmest  feelings  of  gratitude  towards  the  Divine  Being, 
who  has  been  pleased  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  favor  us,  and  to  - 
crown  with  success  the  exertions  we  have  made  for  our  country. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  very  active  operations  which  we  have 
performed,  it  is  possible  that  expressions  may  have  dropped,  tend- 
ing to  irritate  and  wound  the  feelings  of  some  who  were  engaged 
in  them.  The  Commanding  General  hopes,  that  with  the  campaign 
will  end  every  unpleasant  sensation,  which  may  have  arisen  from 
that  source,  and  that  we  shall  return  home  united  as  a  band  of 
brothers,  with  the  sweet  solace  of  having  served  our  country  from 
the  purest  motives,  and  with  the  best  of  our  abilities." 

In  pursuance  of  this  order,  the  troops  returned  to  Kentucky,  and 
were  discharged  by  Major  Trigg,  at  Limestone,  on  the  4th  of  No- 
vember. The  mounted  regiment  was  detained  a  few  days  at 
Detroit,  till  the  Indians  had  dispersed,  after  the  armistice,  and  then 
returned  home  without  any  remarkable  occurrence. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

"  See  !   again,  th«  smoke  is  curling 
From  the  friendly  calumet, 

And  the  club  of  war  is  buried, 
And  the  star  of  slaughter  set." 


Further  movements  of  the  American  Army — Holmes'  expedition  against  the  British 
near  the  old  battle-ground — He  posts  his  men  on  a  height,  and  gives  the  enemy 
battle — The  Americans  again  victorious — Movement  against  Mackinaw — Expedi- 
tion of  General  M' Arthur — Resignation  of  General  Harrison — The  treaty  of 
Green vi HO— Chief  Pe-con — Durability  of  the  old  fort — Succession  of  commanders 
here — Destruction  of  the  old  <ort  and  building  of  a  new  one — Peaceful  attitude  of 
the  Indians  after  the  war — Spirit  of  order  and  desire  for  peace  among  the  Indians 
— Their  close  observation  and  intuition — Ifew-comers — An  incident — James  Pel- 
tier, the  interpreter,  and  the  Indian. 


i  LTHOUGH  the  defeat  of  the  British  at  the  battle  of  the 
^Thames  had  virtually  terminated  the  struggles  in  the  north- 
>west,  yet  there  was  a  determination  to  push  the  war  still 
further.  In  February  following,  (1814,)  an  expedition  was 
formed  under  Captain  Holmes,  to  invade  Canada,  the  enemy 
having,  in  the  month  of  January,  again  taken  a  position  at  the  point 
of  Proctor's  defeat,  against  which  Holmes  aimed  to  direct  his  expe- 
dition ;  but  learning  that  the  British  were  advancing  with  a  superior 
force,  he  tools:  his  position  upon  an  elevated  point  a  few  miles  from 
the  old  battle  ground,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  fortify  himself. 
Here  he  was  now  soon  attacked  with  much  vigor,  but  after 
considerable  loss,  the  British  were  again  forced  to  retreat. 

The  next  was  a  movement  against  Mackinaw,  which  had  first 
been  proposed  soon  after  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  but  the  unfa- 
vorable condition  of  the  weather  prevented  the  safe  navigation  of 
the  lakes,  and  the  purpose  was  abandoned.  In  the  following  April, 
however,  the  plan  was  again  proposed,  and  put  into  execution  for 
the  double  purpose  of  destroying  some  vessels  the  British  were 
supposed  to  be  building  at  Gloucester  Bay,  and  to  capture  Mackin- 
aw ;  which,  through  some  misunderstanding,  resulted  in  a  fruitless 
effort,  and  was*  at  length  abandoned.  It  was  again  revived,  late 
in  the  month  of  July  following,  from  further  information  received 


280  HlSTOKY    OF   FOKT   WAYNE. 

relative  to  the  building  of  vessels  at  Gloucester  Bay.  Failing  at 
length  to  reach  the  point  in  question,  the  vessels  sailed  to  St. 
Joseph's,  where  a  trading  house  was  destroyed,  and  the  goods 
thereof  seized.  A  portion  of  this  fleet  at  once  sailed  for  Mackinaw, 
and  on  the  4th  of  August  made  a  landing  upon  the  west  side  of  the 
Island,  where  a  rather  spirited  action  occurred,  in  which  Captain 
Holmes  and  11  others  were  killed,  which  induced  an  abandonment 
of  any  further  attempt  to  capture  Mackinaw.  The  British  were  now 
somewhat  successful  in  several  efforts  against  the  Americans. 

M'Arthur,  on  the  26th  of  October,  with  seven  hundred  and  twenty 
mounted  men,  left  Detroit.  Soon  reaching  Oxford,  he  proceeded 
to  Burford,  whence,  instead  of  joining  General  Brown,  at  Fort  Erie, 
as  had  been  previously  proposed,  he  moved  towards  the  lake,  by 
the  Long  Point  road,  and  there  defeated  a  body  of  militia,  who 
had  thought  to  stop  his  further  march ;  destroyed  also  some  five 
or  six  mills,  and  then  made  his  retreat  along  the  lake  shore  towards 
Sandwich,  pursued  by  a  body  of  regulars,  nearly  double  his  own 
number,  arriving  at  Sandwich,  on  the  17th  of  November,  with  a 
loss  of  but  one  man ;  and  this  closed  the  struggles  in  the  North- 
west. 

General  Harrison,  feeling,  for  certain  manifest  reasons,  that  the 
Secretary  of  War  entertained  a  dislike  for  him,  resigned  his  position 
as  commander-in-chief  of  the  western  forces,  on  the  llth  of  May, 
1814.  Prior  to  his  resignation,  however,  he  had  arranged  for  a 
treaty  at  Greenville,  where,  on  the  22d  of  July,  with  General  Cass, 
on  behalf  of  the  United  States,  they  had  met  the  friendly  Wyan- 
dotts,  Delawares,  Shawanoes,  Senecas,  and  concluded  a  peace  with 
the  Miamies,  Weas,  and  Eel  River  Indians,  and  certain  of  the 
Pottawattamies,  Ottawas  and  Kickapoos  ;  all  of  whom  had  engaged 
to  jt>in  the  Americans,  should  the  war  continue.  On  the  24th  of 
December,  the  treaty  of  Ghent  having  been  signed,  by  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  two  governments,  the  difficulties  ended,  and 
the  proffered  aid  of  the  Indians  was  no  longer  required. 

The  treaty  of  July,  1814,  at  Greenville,  was  one  of  the  largest  ' 
treaties  that  had  ever  been  held  with  the  tribes.     Pe-con,*  the 
successor  of  Little  Turtle,  as  the  representative  of  the  Miamies, 
with  one  hundred  and  thirteen  others,  were  signers  to  this  treaty. 

The  old  Fort,  as  originally  built  by  order  of  General  Wayne,  in 
1794,  had  withstood  the  ravages  of  time  and  the  efforts  of  the 
Indians  to  destroy  it,  remarkably  well.  From  the  period  of  Gen- 
eral Hamtramck's  occupation  of  it,  after  the  departure  of  General 
Wayne,  to  its  final  evacuation,  in  1819,  it  had  been  in  charge  of 
many  commandants.  After  the  resignation  of  Captain  JRay,  in 
1812,  Captain  Hugh  Moore,  assumed  command,  who,  in  1813,  was 
superseded  by  Jos.  Jenkinson.  In  the  spring  of  1814,  Major  Whist- 
ler became  its  commandant,  who  in  turn  was  superseded  by  Major 

*  Chief  Pe-con  died  soon  after  this  treaty,  near  the  old  residence  of  his  successor, 
Chief  Richardville,  some  four  or  five  miles  up  the  St.  Mary's  river. ' 


PEACEABLE  CHAKACTEB  OF  THE  INDIANS.  281 

Josiah  H.  Yose,  in  1815,  who  continued  in  command  until  its  final 
evacuation,  19th  of  April,  1819. 

At  the  close  of  the  struggles  in  1814,  soon  after  the  arrival  of 
Major  Whistler,  to  assume  command  here,  it  was  feared  that  the 
Indians  might  again  make  an  elfort  to  capture  the  post,  and  being 
much  out  of  repair,  and  most  uncomfortable  for  the  garrison  in 
many  respects,  Major  Whistler  applied  to  the  War  Department  for 
permission  to  rebuild  it,  which  was  granted  by  General  Armstrong, 
and  the  main  structure  was  replaced  by  new  pickets  and  other 
necessary  timber  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  officers  and  other  quart- 
ers within  the  enclosure. 

Though  many  Indians  continued,  for  several  years  after  the  war 
of  1812  to  congregate  here  for  purposes  of  trade  ;  to  receive  their 
annuity  ;  and  also  from  a  feeling  of  sympathy  and  attraction  for 
the  scene  of  their  old  home  and  gathering-place,  aside  from  some 
petty  quarrels  among  themselves,  in  which  they  would  often  kill 
each  other,  nothing  of  a  war-like  nature  was  ever  again  manifest 
between  the  Indians  and  the  whites. 

During  1818,  a  year  remarkable  for  the  congregation  of  many 
Indians-  here,  the  red  man  is  referred  to  as  presenting  a  general 
spirit  of  order  and  love  of  peace,  not  surpassed  by  many  of  the 
whites  of  the  time,  and  well  worthy  of  emulation  in  many  in- 
stances. It  was  no  uncommon  thing  in  their  visits  to  Ke-ki-on-ga, 
seeing  a  new  hut,  to  enquire  whether  the  new-comer  was  quiet — if 
he  "  make  no  trouble  for  Injun,"  &c.  And  their  intuition  and 
close  observation  were  presented  very  often  in  the  most  striking 
and  remarkable  light. 

On  one  occasion,  about  this  period,  an  elderly  Miamie  had  come 
to  the  village  to  trade  a  little.  Soon  meeting  his  old  friend,  Jas.  Pel- 
tier, the  interperter,  his  observing  eye,  in  looking  about  the  place, 
soon  fell  upon  a  hut  near,  that  had  but  recently  been  built.  "  Ugh ! " 
ejaculated  the  Indian  >  "  new  wigwam  ! "  He  now  became  most  anx- 
ious to  know  if  the  white  man  was  peaceable — whether  he  come  to 
make  trouble  for  Injun?  The  two  now  soon  entered  the  hut  of  the 
new-comers,  and  shook  hands  with  the  inmates.  The  Indian  at  once 
began  to  look  about  him,  and  to  enquire  how  many  warriors  (chil- 
dren) they  had,  &c.  Eyeing  the  matron  of  the  house  or  squaw,  as  the 
Indian  called  her,  and  observing  that  she  was  quite  sad,  the  Indian 
became  anxious  to  know  what  was  the  matter  with  her — he  was 
sure  she  was  sick.  The  woman  averred  that  she  was  not  sick. 
But  the  Indian  knew  she  was.  Turning  to  his  old  friend  P.  again, 
after  looking  at  the  woman  and  striking  his  hand  upon  his  breast, 
exclaimed,  "  White  squaw  sick  at  heart ; "  and  was  anxious  to 
know  if  she  had  not  left  something  behind,  at  the  settlement  from 
which  they  came  to  Fort  Wayne.  In  response  to  this,  the 
woman  quickly  replied,  that  she  had  left  her  only  son,  by  her  first 
husband,  at  Piqua,  and  that  she  was  anxious  to  have  him  with  her, 
but  her  present  husband  did  not  want  him  to  come.  "  Did'nt  I  tell 


282  HlSTOEY   OF  FOBT 

you  white  squaw  sick  at  heart  .'"replied  the  Indian,  much  elated;  and 
he  at  once  proposed  to  go  to  Piqua  aud  bring  her  son  to  her,  if  Mr. 
P.  would  give  him  a  blanket — which  was  readily  agreed  to,  Re- 
ceiving a  note  from  the  mother,  the  next  morning  early,,  with  two 
Indian  ponies,  the  generous  red  man  was  on  the  road  to  Piqua;, and 
in  five  days  from  that  time  returned  with  the  boy!  The  woman's 
heart  was  eased,  and  as  the  faithful  Indian  gazed  upon  the  happy 
meeting  of  the  mother  and  the  son,  his  heart  warmed  within  him, 
and  turning  to  his  friend  Peltier,  he  exclaimed :  "  Is'nt  that  good 
medicine  for  the  white  squaw  !  " 

The  Indian  now  became  the  faithful  protector  and  friend  of  the 
woman  and  her  son,  assuming  the  special  guardianship  of  the  lat- 
ter— telling  the  husband  that  if  he  ever  heard  a  word  of  complaint, 
either  from  the  son  or  mother,  as  to  ill  treatment,  "  he  would  have 
his  hide,  if  he  had  to  lay  in  the  Maumee  river  until  the  moss*  had 
grown  six  inches  on  his  back." 

For  six  or  seven  years  the  Indian  continued  his  visits  to  the  hut  of 
the  new-comers,  always  bringing  them  supplies  in  the  form  of 
venison,  and  animals  of  different  kinds ;  and  the  boy  very  often  ac- 
companied his  kind  benefactor  to  the  forest  in  pursuit  of  game,  f 

*It  was  a  custom  with  the  Indians  in  warfare,  when  seeking  to  revenge  themselves 
upon  some  one,  often  to  cover  their  backs  with  moss  or  weeds,  and  thus  to  creep  from 
point  to  point,  surprising  and  killing  their  opponents. 

•fAs  related  by  Jas.  Peltier  to  his  SOD  Louis  Peltier,  from  whom  the  writer  received 
the  narration. 


Hi 
V  I 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

"  Broad  plains — blue  waters — hills  and  valleys. 
That  ring  with  anthems  of  the  free !  " 


Fort  Wayne  regarded  as  an  object  of  marked  value  to  the  country — Commanding  offi- 
cer's and  soldiers'  garden — Main  road  and  general  scenery  from  the  tort — Burial 
grounds — Exhximation  of  Indian  bones,  <fcc. — Hospitality  of  the  garrison — Early 
navigation  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  Maumee — I'he  general  landing-place — Dams  and 
mills — The  fur-trade — "TPack*" — Richardville — His  wealth — French  traders — 
Treaties  at  St.  Mary's,  Ohio — Occupants  of  the  fort  in  May,  1814 — Return  of  chief 
Richardville  to  Fort  Wayne  in  1814 — His  refusal  to  attend  the  treaty  of  Greenville 
— Rebuilding  of  the  fort — Early  traces — The  "  Big  Elm" — A  fourth-of-July  party 
— Arrival  of  the  mail — Removal  of  Major  Whistler,  and  appointment  of  Major  J. 
H.  Vose  and  Lieutenant  Clark — Abandonment  of  the  garrison — Loneliness  of  the 
settlers — Captain  James  Riley's  visit  to  and  e^rly  impressions  of  Fort  Wayne  and 

'  vicinity — Early  buildings — Settlers  of  1815 — Army  contractors — Admission  of  Jn- 
diana  as  a  State — The  convention  at  Corydon — Vincennes  the  seat  of  government 
for  the  Indiana  Territory — Whatis  now  Allen  County,  early  formed  a  part  of  Ran- 
dolph County  on  the  south,  of  wliich  Winchester  was  long  the  county  seat — Large 
gatnering  ot  Indians  at  Fort  Wayne — How  they  drew  their  rations — The  old 
Council-house  and  well — Letter  of  Major  B.  F.  Stickney — Early  traders — Visit 
here  of  General  Cass  and  H.  R.  Schoolcraft — Formation  of  State  Districts  and  elec- 
tion of  Representatives. 


S  WITH  tlie  heat  of  summer  and  the  frost  of  winter,  so  the 
f  effects  and  agitated  state  of  the  war  element  only  gradually 
•  disappeared,  again  leaving  the  atmosphere  of  the  general 
mind  in  a  state  of  comparative  passivity  and  reconciliation. 

Still  remote  from  the  "  settlements,"  Fort  Wayne  continued 
as  in  former  years,  to  exist  as  an  object  of  special  interest  to  the 
nation,  not  knowing  what  trials  and  conflicts  might  sooner  or  later 
call  it  into  action  again,  in  defence  of  the  northwest ;  and  for  some 
years  after  the  achievements  of  1812-14,  the  soldier  still  continued 
to  stand  guard  at  its  portalg. 

Attached  to  the  fort,  running  west  to  about  where  the  "  Old  Fort 
House  "  is  located,  and  where  David  Comparers  warehouse  stands, 
embracing  about  one  acre  of  ground,  was  an  excellent  and  well 
cultivated  garden,  belonging  to  the  commanding  officer,  always 
filled,  in  season,  with  the  choicest  vegetation.  Still  to  the  west  of  this 
was  the  company's  garden,  extending  to  about  where  the  Hedekin 
House  now  stands,  which  was  also  well  tilled.  The  road  then  main- 


284  HISTORY  OF  FOKT 

ly  used,  extended  westward  from  the  fort  along  what  is  now  the 
canal,  to  the  corner  of  Barr  and  Columbia  streets. 

In  general  appeai'ance,  in  the  summer  of  1814,  looking  out  upon 
the  surrounding  scene  from  the  fort,  the  country  and  vicinity  was  des- 
cribed as  of  the  rarest  beauty.  Nature  everywhere  wore  an  aspect 
of  grandeur.  The  surface,  as  cleared  by  order  of  General  Harrison, 
in  1812,  to  thwart  the  efforts  and  designs  of  the  Indians,  was  now 
formed,  here  and  there,  with  beautiful  lawns  of  tall  blue  grass,  of 
the  finest  growth,  undisturbed,  from  season  to  season,  save  by  the 
tread  and  hunger  of  a  few  stray  ponies. 

Just  to  the  south  of  the  fort,  in  what  is  now  "  Taber's  Addition," 
was  located  the  burial-ground  of  the  garrison  ;  and  where  also  were 
deposited  others  not  immediately  connected  with  the  fort.  Lieu- 
tenant Ostrander,  mentioned  in  a  former  chapter,  who  had  un- 
thoughtedly  fired  upon  a  flock  of  birds  passing  over  the  fort,  had 
been  repremanded  by  Captain  Ray,  and  because  of  his  refusal  to 
be  tried  by  a  court-martial,  was  confined  in  a  small  room  in  the 
garrison,  where  he  subsequenily  died,  was  among  the  number 
buried  in  this  old  place  of  interment.  Another  place  of  burial, 
where  also  a  number  of  Indians  were  interred,  extended  along  the 
northwest  corner  of  Columbia  and  Clinton  streets,  and  to  the  ad- 
joining block,  Many  bones  were  removed  from  this  point  some 
years  ago,  in  digging  cellars,  and  laying  the  foundations  of  build- 
ings. 

In  1846,  in  the  progress  of  excavating  for  a  foundation  wall, 
immediately  to  the  west  of  the  northwest  corner  of  Main  and 
Calhoun  streets,  were  dug  up  and  "  removed  the  remains  of  an  In- 
dian, who  had  long  before  that  been  buried,  with  a  gun  excellently 
mounted,  some  trinkets  of  silver,  and  a  glass  pint  flask  of  whisky, 
which  liquid  was  still  preserved  in  at  least  as  good  a  state  as  when 
buried.  The  hair  was  also  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation,  though  the 
skull  was  much  decayed,  as  were  the  gun  mountings  carroded."*-> 

Another  burial  ground,  used  principally  by  the  Indians,  within 
the  recollection  of  some  of  the  early  settlers  here,extended  from  about 
where  Messrs.  Hill  &  Orbison's  warehouse  stands,  across  the  basin 
to  the  brewery,  and  beyond.  And  often  had  been  seen,  years  ago, 
swinging  from  the  bough  of  a  tree,  or  in  a  hammock  stretched  be- 
tween two  trees,  the  infant  of  the  Indian  mother ;  or  a  few  little 
log  enclosures,  where  the  bodies  of  adults  sat  upright,  with  all  their 
former  apparel  wrapped  about  them,  and  their  trinkets,  tomahawks, 
&c.,  by  their  side,  could  be  seen  at  any  time  for  many  years,  by  the 
few  pale  faces  visting  or  sojourning  here." 

In  those  hospitable  periods  in  the  northwest,  when  it  was  the 
pride  as  well  as  pleasure  of  every  one  to  freely  help  his  neighbor, 
in  any  way  that  each  could  be  serviceable  to  the  other,  the  appear- 
ance of  a  stranger  at  the  fort,  from  the  settlements,  or  any  part  of 
the  country,  w_as  a  treat  not  to  be  lightly  considered  ;  and  such  an 

" 


»'JForfc  Wayne  Times,"  1856. 


EARLY  NAVIGATION — THE  FUB  TRADE.  285 

arrival  was  always  hailed  with  unbounded  pleasure  by  all,  and  en- 
tertained with  the  freest  and  most  gratifying  hospitality. 

One  of  the  principal  ways  by  which  Fort  Wayne  was  reached  at 
this  period,  was  by  water,  either  byway  of  the  St.  Mary's  or  Maumee 
rivers,  usually  jn  flat  boats  and  what  was  then  known  as  pirogues, 
embarking  at  St.  Mary's,0hio,when  coming  by  way  of  the  St.  Mary's 
river.  The  boat  landing  was  just  below  the  fort,  about  where  the 
Maumee  bridge  is,  and  in  the  bend  of  this  river — a  road  leading 
obliquely  down  the  embankment  from  the  fort  to  the  landing  ;  and 
up  to  1838,  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  pirogues  andflatboats, 
laden  with  various  articles  of  merchandise,  whisky,  flour,  furs,  &c., 
land  and  unload,  a*nd  re-load,  at  this  point.  But  many  dams  hav- 
ing been  subsequently  erected  along  the  St.  Mary's,  with  a  view 
to  the  establishment  of  mills,  navigation  at  length  became  impeded, 
and  finally  abandoned  altogether.  Among  the  early  mills  built 
along  the  St.  Mary's  and  near  Fort  Wayne,  was  one  erected  by 
Captain  James  Kiley,  in  1822,  at  a  point  familiarly  known  as  the 
"•  Devil's  Race  Ground,"  or  what  is  now  Willshire,  Ohio  ;  in  1824-5 
Samuel  Hanna  and  James  Barnett  built  a  mill  some  three  miles 
from  Fort  Wayne,  now  known  as  "  Beaver's  mill." 

Great  quantities  of  hides  and  peltries  arriving  here  on  horses, 
familiarly  called  "  packs,"  or  by  water,  across  by  portage,*  from 
the  Wabash,  &c.,  were  placed  in  pirogues,  and  re-shipped  to  Detroit, 
and  other  points  below.  And  this  business  was  for  many  years 
the  principal  commerce  of  the  place — in  fact,  the  coin  itself,  by 
which  notes  and  "  promises  to  pay,",  were  usually  liquidated  ;  and 
it  was  through  these  that  goods  of  various  kinds  were  generally 

•This  business  of  the  portage  or  transporting  of  goods  and  furs  to  and  from  the  waters 
of  the  Maumee  and  "Wabash,  had,  before  the  erection  »f  the  fort,  become  of  considerable 
importance.  For  some  time  previous  to  about  the  year  1800,  it  had  been  pretty  much 
monopolized  by  the  mother  of  the  late  chief  Richardville,  who  usually  employed  a 
considerable  number  of  men — Indians — and  horses  for  that  purpose.  The  extent  and 
profit  of  the  business  was  such,  that  the  Indians,  upon  the  grant  of  a  tract  of  land  on 
Little  river,  at  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  endeavored  to  have  reserved  to  themselves  the 
exclusive  right  of  transportation  across  the  portage,  a  portion  of  which  was  included 
in  the  grant ;  and  it  was  stated  that  as  much  as  one  hundred  dollars  had  been  yielded 
from  this  source  in  one  day.  It  is  quite  Certain  that  this  woman  amassed  a  consider- 
able fortune  at  the  business.  Afterwards,  Mr.  Louis  Bourie,  of  Detroit,  who  had  a  tra- 
ding house  here,  principally  carried  on  this  business,  from  abouttheyear  1803,  to  181)9. 
His  clerk  here,  ^ho  usually  employed  a  number  of  men  and  horses  for  the  purpose,  ac- 
ted also  as  a  kind  of  forwarding  merchant  for  the  traders.  Upon  the  deposit  of  goods 
in  their  absence,  he  issued  regular  receipts  for  thesame.nnd  paid  off  the  charges  of  freight 
and  duties  at  the  po«t  of  Miami.  The  traders  would  purchase  their  goods  in  Detroit 
or  Canada,  usually  in  the  summer  or  fall ;  transport  them  in  pirogues,  in  case  of  pur- 
chase from  the  former,  to  Detroit  or  Post  Miami,  where  they  paid  duties  ;  thence  they 
ascended  the  Maumee  river,  by  the  same  road  to  the  portage  at  Fort  Wayne  ;  crossed 
the,  same  by  pack  horses  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Wabash,  and  down  the  same  by  pi- 
rogues to  their  respective  establishments  In  the  spring  they  returned,  in  the  same 
manner  with  the  fucs  they  had  collected  in  winter,  to  the  marts  of  Detroit  and  Canada, 
whence  they  were  sent  to  Europe.  We  can  scarcely  conceive,  at  this  day,  of  the  im- 
mense quantities  of  furs,  consisting  principally  of  beaver,  bear,  otter,  deer,  and  coon, 
which  were  formerly  collected  on  tho  Wabash  and  Illinois  rivers,  and  nearly  all  of  which 
passed  over  this  portage.  They  were  the  principal  staple  of  the  country,  and  among 
the  traders  the  only  currency — when  debts  were  contracted,  or  payments  to  be  made, 
were  u«  unll  j  drawn  payable  in  1'ura.  Such  notes  are  found  extending  back  in 


286  HISTORY  OP  FORT  WAYNE* 

obtained  in  exchange — such  as  dry  goods,  boots,  shoes,  hardware, 
&c — which  were  sold  at  exorbitant  prices  to  the  Indians,  and  others, 
and  by  which  means,  and  the  early  purchase  of  lands,  at  a  very 
low  figure,  many  in  after  years  became  very  wealthy.  .Richard- 
ville,  the  late  chief  of  the  Miamies,  who  was  licensed  as  a  trader- 
with  the  Indians  at  this  point,  as  early  as  1815,  amassed  an  immense 
fortune,  mainly  by  this  trade  and  the  sale  of  lands.  Schoolcraft 
estimated  his  wealth  some  years  prior  to  his  death  at  about  $200,000 
in  specie  ;  much  of  which  he  had  had  so  long  buried  in  the  earth 
that  the  boxes  in  which  the  money  was  enclosed,  had  mainly  de- 
cayed, and  the  silver  itself  greatly  rusted  and  blackened. 

In  1818,  several  French  traders  came  here,  but  not  meeting  with 
such  inducements  as  they  had  desired,  passed  on,  after  a  few  days, 
to  the  more  remote  regions  of  the  West,  where  furs  were  supposed 
to  be  more  abundant. 

In  this  year  there  were  also  a  number  of  treaties  held  with  the 
Indians  at  St.  Mary's,  Ohio,  on  behalf  of  the  United  States,  under 
the  direction  of  Governor  Jennings  and  Benjamin  Parke,  of  Indi- 
ana, and  General  Lewis  Cass,  of  Michigan ;  at  one  of  which,  on 
the  6th  of  October,  a  purchase  of  a  considerable  body  of  land 
lying  south  of  the  rivers  St.  Mary  and  Wabash,  was  effected. 

When  Major  Whistler  assumed  command  of  the  garrison,  itt 
May,  1814,  aside  from  the  little  band  of  soldiers  here,  were  the  two 
daughters  of  the  commandant,  Mrs.  Laura  Suttenfield,*  George 
and  John  E.  Hunt j  Lieutenant  Curtiss,  and  William  Suttenn'eld, 
husband  of  Mrs.  L.  Suttenn'eld.  Soon  after  the  war  broke  out,  with 
many  other  members  of  the  tribe,  including  his  family,  Chief 
Richard  ville,  made  his  way  to  the  British  lines  for  protection,  and 
with  a  view,  doubtless,  to  render  some  aid  to  the  enemy  ;  for,,  as 
the  reader  already  knows,  but  few  among  the  tribes  of  the  northwest 
remained  neutral,  or  failed  to  give  aid  in  some  way  to  the  British 
cause.  At  the  close  of  the  troubles  in  1814,  he  again  returned 
to  this  point,  and  soon  passed  on  up  the  St.  Mary's,  about.three 
miles  from  Fort  Wayne,  where  he  encamped.f  Major  Whistler, 
desiring  to  see  him,  at  once  sent  an  interpreter  to  him  by  the  name 
of  Crozier,  requesting  him  to  come  immediately  to  the  fort,  with 
which  he  readily  complied.  The  treaty  of  Greenvill*,  already  re- 
ferred to,  was  now  about  to  take  place,  and  the  Major  desired 
that  the  chief  should  be  present,  and  so  requested  him ;.  but  Rich- 
ardville  was  very  indifferent  about  the  matter,  hesitated,  and  soon 
returned  to  his  camp  again.  A  few  days  subsequently,  however, 
he  came  back  to  the  fort,  where  he  was  now  held  as  a  hostage  for 
some  ten  days,  when  he  at  length  consented  to  attend  the  treaty, 
and  was  soon  after  accompanied  thither  by  Chief  Chondonnai,  of 

date  from  1810  to  as  early  as  1738  ;  at  which  latter  period  Kaskaskia  was  the  empori 
um  of  the  trade  of  theWest.—  C.  B.  Lasselle,  from  Fort  Wayne  Democrat,  Feb.  20th  Itt67. 

*See  sketch  of  her  in  back  part  of  this  volume. 

fit  was  not  far  from  this  point  where  the  government,  a  few  years  later,  built  him  a 
very  neat  briok  houfr,  ia  which  he  resided  for  several  years  afterward** 


REBUILDING  OP  THE  FORT.  287 

one  of  the  lower  tribes,  (who  had  been  a  party  to  the  Chicago  mas- 
sacre,) Robert  E.  Forsyth,  and  Wm.  Suttenfield. 

Much  of  the  season  of  1815,  was  spent  in  rebuilding  the  fort; 
and  when  completed,  as  with  the  first  erected  in  1794,  was  a  most 
substantial  affair.  The  timber  with  wfcich  it  had  been  built,  was 
obtained  principally  from  what  is  now  the  east  end,  about  where 
stands  the  dwelling  of  H.  B.  Taylor,  James  Embry,  and  the  late 
Samuel  Hanna — the  pickets  consisting  of  timber,  some  twelve  and 
a  half  feet,  in  length,  "  in  sets  of  six,  with  cross  pieces,  two  feet 
from  the  top,  let  in  and  spiked,  and  a  trench  dug,  two  and  a  half 
feet  deep,  into  which  they  were  raised."*  As  the  old  pickets  were 
removed,  the  new  ones  took  their  place. 

At  thts  early  period,  the  roads  leading  from  the  fort  were  mere 
traces ;  one  leading  to  Fort  Recovery,  and  known  as  the  "  Wayne 
trace,"  passing  through  what  is  now  Allen  County,  thence  into 
Adams,  to  the  north  ofMonmouth;  from  thence  passing  not  far 
from  \V  illshire  to  "  Shane's  Crossing,"  and  so  on.  There  was  also 
a  trace  to  Captain  "Well's  place,  on  the  banks  of  Spy  Run  ;  two 
traces  led  down  the  Maumee  on  either  side  ;  and  one  extended  in 
the  direction  of  Fort  Dearborn,  (Chicago;)  between  which  point 
and  Fort  Wayne,  no  house  was  then  visible,  nor  indeed,  in  any  other 
direction,  with,  perhaps,  one  or  two  exceptions,  short  of  the  settle- 
ments in  Ohio.  The  two  common  fording  places  at  that  time  and  for 
some  years  later,  were  above  and  below  the  Maumee  bridge — the 
one  below  the  bridge  was  better  known  as  "  Harnier's  Ford,"  both 
of  which  are  now  most  entirely  obliterated. 

It  was  below  this  latter  ford,  near  a  path  leading  towards  Detroit, 
under  the  cheerful  shade  of  what  was  then  and  long  after  known  as 
the  "  Big  Elm,"  on  the  4th  of  July,  18 10,  that  Captain  Ray  and  a  few 
others  from  the  fort,  were  enjoying  themselves  most  agreeably, 
partaking  of  a  dinner,  in  honor  of  the  glorious  occasion,  when  an 
express  -came  up  the  trace  from  Detroit,  with  the  private  mail  and 
Government  despatches.  Here  Captain  Ray  took  possession  of 
the  "  mail  matter,"  all  gathering  around  to  receive  their  favors, 
which  were  then  duly  distributed  by  first  Postmaster  Ray  ;  and  the 
old  Elm  was  thereafter  known  as  "  the  Post  Office."  What  has 
become  of  this  "  old  familiar  tree  " — whose  o'erhanging  bows 
formed  the  shadow  of  the  first  post  office  in  the  region  of  Fort 
Wayne,  is  now  unknown.  Perhaps  some  unsparing  axeman  long 
since  cut  it  down. 

It  was  by  way  of  Fort  Wayne  at  this  period  and  some  years  after 
that  the  troops  at  Chicago  and  Green  Bay  received  their  regular 
mail  by  military  express. 

Major  Whistler,  in  1&17,  being  removed  from  this  point  to  what 
is  now  St.  Charles,  Mo.,  was  succeeded  by  Major  J.  H.  Vose,  of 
the  5th  regiment  of  regulars,  who  held  command  until  permanent- 
ly evacuated,  in  April,  1819.  The  departure  of  the  troops  is 

*  "  Fort  Wayne  Timeej"  1858. 


288  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

said  to  have  "  left  the  little  band  of  citizens"  then  here  "  extreme- 
ly lonesome  and  unprotected.  The  cessation  of  the  therefore  daily 
music  of  the  troops  in  the  fort  was  supplied  by  the  stillness  of 
nature,  almost  overwhelming-.  The  Indians  were  numerous,  and 
their  camp  fires  and  rude  music,  the  drum,  made  night  more  dread- 
ed ;  but  to  this  the  inhabitants  of  Fort  Wayne  soon  became  famili- 
arized." "The  punctilio  of  military  life  was  gradually  infused 
into  the  social  circle,  and  gave  tone  to  the  etiquette  and  moral 
habits  of  the  citizens  of"  the  fort.* 

It  was  in  this  year,  about  the  24th  of  November,  (1819,)  that 
Captain  James  Riley,  the  surveyor,  paid  a  visit  to  Fort  Wayne. 
The  following  are  some  of  his  impressions  as  then  dotted  clown. 

"  At  every  step,  in  this  country,"  said  he  of  General  Wayne 
and  the  fort,  "every  unprejudiced  mind  will  more  and  more  admire 
the  movements  and  achievements  of  the  army,  conducted  by  this 
veteran  and  truly  wise  and  great  commander,  (General  Wayne.) 
By  occupying  Fort  Wayne,  the  communication  between  Lake  Erie 
and  the  Ohio,  through  the  channels  of  the  Maumee  and  the  Wabash 
(which  is  the  shortest  and  most  direct  water  route  from  Buffalo  to 
the  Missisippi  river,)  was  cut  off,  or  completely  commanded."  He 
also  suggested  the  importance  of  a  canal,  by  way  of  the  portage, 
from  St.  Mary?s  to  Little  river,  and  said  such  "  might  very  easily 
be  cut  six  miles  long,  uniting  the  Wabash  to  the  St.  Mary's,  a  little 
above  its  junction  ;  and  from  what  I  saw  and  learned  from  othfers," 
said  he,  "  it  is  my  opinion  that  the  swamp  might  afford  water  suffi- 
cient for  purposes  of  Canal  navigation. 

"  The  country  around  Fort  Wayne,"  he  continued,  "  is  very  fertile. 
The  situation  is  commanding  and  healthy,  and  here  will  arise  a 
town  of  great  importance,  which  must  become  a  depot  of  immense 
trade.  The  fort  is  now  only  a  small  stockade;  no- troops  are  sta- 
tioned here,  and  less  than  thirty  dwelling  houses,  occupied  by 
French  and  American  families,  from  the  settlement.  But  soon  as 
the  land  shall  be  surveyed  and  offered  for  sale,  inhabitants  will 
pour  in  from  all  quarters,  to  this  future  thoroughfare,  between  the 
East  and  the  Mississippi  river." 

A  year  later,  November,  1820,  Captain  Biley,  writing  to  Hon. 
Edward  Tiffin,  surveyor-general,  said  he  "  was  induced  to  visit  this 
place  for  curiosity,  to  see  the  Indians  receive  their  annuities,  and 
to  view  the  country."  It  was  at  this  period  that  he  levelled  the 
portage  ground,  from  the  St.  Mary's  to  Little  river,  and  presented 
also  some  very  practical  suggestions,  which,  in  after  years,  came 
to  be  highly  serviceable.  Every  freshet  at  that  time,  brought 
many  boats  down  the  St.  Mary's,  which  had,  for  some  years,  been 
quite  common.  This,  (Fort  Wayne,)  said  he,  is  "  a  central  point, 
combining  more  natural  advantages  to  build  up  and  support  a  town 
of  importance,  as  a  place  of  deposit  and  trade,  and  a  thoroughfare, 
than  any  point  he  had  seen  in  the  western  country." 

At  this  period,  he  remarked,  there  were  about  one  thousand 
Tim*8»"  1858. 


ACCOUNT  OF  CAPTAIN  RILEY — TKADE  WITH  THE  INDIANS.      289 

whites  here  from  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  and  New  York,  trading 
with  the  Indians  during  the  payment  season,  who  had  brought  a 
great  abundance  of  whisky  with  them,  and  which  they  dealt  out 
to  the  Indians  so  freely  as  to  keep  them  continually  drunk,  and  un- 
fit for  business;  horse-racing,  drinking,  gambling,  debauchery, 
extravagance,  and  waste  were  the  order  of  the  day  and  night ;  and 
that  the  Indians  were  the  least  savage,  and  more  christianized  ; 
that  the  examples  of  those  whites  were  too  indelicate  to  mention ; 
all  of  which  he  thought  could  be  remedied  by  a  speedy  survey  of 
the  lands,  and  then  to  dispose  of  them  as  soon  as  possible,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Maumee  to  Fort  Wayne  ;  and  from  thence  down 
the  Wabash,  which  would  superinduce  a  rapid  settlement,  and 
give  spur  and  energy  to  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures; 
and  further  suggested  that  the  place  should  he  laid  out  in  lots,  and 
sold,  the  money  to  be  applied  by  the  President,  giving  a  place  and 
lands  on  which  to  erect  buildings  of  a  public  character  for  "this 
future  Emporium  of  Indiana"  And  he  finally  purchased,  this 
year,  at  the  Piqua  Land  Office,  a  number  of  tracts  of  land  at  the 
Kapids  of  the  St.  Mary's,  (Willshire,)  where  he  soon  moved  his1 
family,  laid  off  a  town,  and,  two  years  later,  (1822,)  built  a  grist 
mill,  and  surveyed  all  the  country,  on  both  sides  of  the  St.  Mary's, 
embracing  Fort  Wayne,  and  also  about  twenty  townships,  of  six 
miles  square,  between  the  St.  Mary's  and  the  Maumee. 

Such  were  the  prophetic  words — such  the  spirit  and  energy  of 
that  Stirling  pioneer,  Captain  James  Riley.  And  he  will  certain- 
ly long  live  in  the  memory  of  the  people  of  Fort  Wayne. 

The  trade  with  the  Indians  now  constituted,  for  some  years  after 
the  organization  of  the  county,  in  1824,  the  main  life  and  business 
activity  of  the  place,  the  principal  features  of  which  have  been  most 
fully  presented  in  the  foregoing,  by  Captain  Riley. 

As  illustrative  of  what  Captain  Riley  has  said  of  the  adventur- 
ous sptrit  of  the  time,  on  one  occasion,  at  a  later  period,  in  the 
history  of  this  old  carrying-place,  an  Indian  had  come  to  Fort 
Wayne,  upon  a  very  fair  pony,  and  alighted  in  front  of  a  little 
grocery  and  liquor  store,  which  then  stood  on  the  west  side  of 
what  is  now  Oalhoun  street,  a  little  north  of  the  north-west  cor- 
ner of  Main  and  Calhoun  streets.  The  Indian  wanted  money,  and 
offered  to  sell  his  pony  for  a  moderate  sum,  to  a  while  man  stand- 
ing near  the  point  at  which  he  stopped.  The  man  looked  at  the 
pony  somewhat  scrutinizingly,  and  said  to  the  Indian  that  he  would 
"  like  to  ride  him  up  the  street  a  piece,  and  if  he  liked  him,  would 
buy  the  pony."  The  Indian  assented,  and  the  man  sprang  upon  the 
animal  and  rode  toward -5  Wayne  street.  At  that  time,  and  for 
some  years  subsequent,  the  old  jail,  a  rather  substantial,  though 
rough-looking  log  building,  stood  on  the  south-west  corner  of  the 
the  present  enclosure  of  the  court-house.  Coming  to  this  old  edi- 
fice, the  man  turned  the  corner,  eastward,  p  issed  the  jail,  and  put- 
ting whip  to  the  pony,  was  soon  beyond  tlio  limits  oftao  towa  1  Tiio 


290  HISTORY  OP  FORT  WAYXE. 

pony  was  gone.     None  could  tell  him  of  the  rider ;  and  the  Indian 
never  saw  him  more. 

In  1815,  a  few  houses  began  to  appear  some  distance  from  the 
fort,  but  usually  in  range  of  the  bastions,  so  that,  in  case  of  attack, 
they  might  easily  be  destroyed,  or  the  enemy  driven  away.  One 
of  these  was  built  about  the  centre  of  what  is  now  Ban-  street,  near 
the  corner  of  Columbia,  which,  some  years  afterwards,  being  re- 
moved from  its  former  locality,  formed  a  part  of  the  old  Washing- 
ton Hall  building,  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Columbia  and  Barr 
streets,  destroyed  by  fire  in  1858. 

Among  those  who  came  to  this  point  in  1815,  were  a  Mr.  Bourie, 
grandfather  of  L.  T.  Bourie;  Dr.  Turner,  Dr.  Samuel  Smith,  from 
Lancaster,  Ohio,  and  John  P.  Hedges  returned  here  from  Cincin- 
nati, whither,  and  to  Bowling  Green,  Ky.,  he  had  gone  after  the 
battle  of  the  Thames.  The  following  year  Dr.  Trevitt  came. 

John  H.  Piatt,  of  Cincinnati,  beginning  with  1812,  furnished 
supplies  to  the  army  here,  with  whom,  in  Ibl4,  became  associated 
Andrew  Wallace.  This  contract  was  subsequently  disposed  of  to 
Rob't  Hugh  Glenn  and  Jacob  Fowles,  who,  in  turn,  disposed  of  it 
(in  181 7,)  "to  Major  Wm.  P.  Rathbone,  of  New  York  City. 

In  1816,  Indiana  having  been  admitted  as  a  State,  in  compliance 
with  an  act  of  Congress,  a  Convention  was  held  at  Corydou,  with 
a  view  to  the  formation  of  a  State  Constitution,  in  which  body  this 
part  of  the  State,  then  a  portion  of  Knox  county,  was  represented 
by  John  Badolet,  John  Benefiel,  John  Johnson,  Wm.  Polk,  and 
Benjamin  Parke,  all  now  deceased. 

The  seat  of  government  of  Knox  county  was  at  Yincennes, 
which  had  for  several  years  been  the  seat  of  government  for  the 
Indiana  Territory  ;  and  all  judicial  matters  relating  to  the  vicinity 
of  Fort  Wayne,  were  settled  at  Vincennes  up  to  181 8,  when  this 
portion  of  the  State,  extending  to  Lake  Michigan,  was  embraced  in 
Randolph  County,  of  which  Winchester  was  the  comity  seat,  up  to 
the  formation  of  Allen  County,  in  1823. 

During  1815,  after  the  declaration  of  peace,  the  Indians  began 
to  gather  here  in  large  numbers,  to  receive  their  rations,  &c.,  as 
per  treaty  stipulations,  at  Greenville. 

Being  admitted  into  the  fort,  on  such  occasions,  in  parties  of  six 
or  eight,  the  Indians  would  present  a  little  bundle  of  short  sticks, 
to  represent  the  number  of  rations  they  wished  to  draw.  The  coun- 
cil-house which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  siege  of  1812,  was 
rebuilt  in  1816,  upon  the  site  of  the  old  one,  which  was  again  oc- 
cupied by  the  'former  Indian  agent  here,  Major  B.  F.  Stickney. 
The  same  well  that  was  used  at  the  time  of  its  occupancy  at  this 
early  period,  js  still  used  by  Mr.  Hedekin,  whose  residence  now 
occupies  the  site  0?  this  old  edifice. 

The  year  following  the  rebuilding  of  the  old  council-house,  (1817,) 
Major  Stickney  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Thomas  L.  M'Kin- 


LETTER  OF  MAJOR  B.  F.  STICKNET.  ,291 


ney,  then  superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs.  This  letter  bears  date 
"  Fort  Wayne,  August  27th,  1817,"  and  at  once  presents  to  the  mind 
of  the  reader  the  true  condition  of  the  Indians  here  at  that  period. 
Said  Mr.  Stickney : 

"  I  shall  pap  every  attention  to  the  subject  of  your  letter,  developing  the  exalted 
views  of  philanthropy  of  the  "Kentucky  Baptist  Society  for  propagating  the  gospel 
among  the  heathen.  The  civilization  of  the  Indians  is  not  a  new  subject  to  me.  I 
have  been,  between  five  and  six  years,  in  the  habit  of  daily  and  hourly  intercourse 
•with  the  Indians  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  and  the  great  question  of  the  practicability 
of  civilizing  them  ever  before  me.  That  I  might  have  an  opportunity  of  casting  in 
my  mite  to  the  bettering  of  the  condition  of  these. uncultivated  human  beings,  and 
the  pleasure  of  observing  the  change  that  might  be  produced  on  them,  were  the  prin- 
cipal inducements  to  my  surrendering  the  comforts  of  civilized  society.  . 

"  Cfpon  niy  entering  on  my  duties,  I  soon  found  that  my  speculative  opinions 
were  not  reducible  to  practice.  What  I  had  viewed,  at  a  distance,  as  flying  clouds, 
proved,  up«n  my  nearer  approach,  to  be  impassable  mountains.  Notwithstanding 
these  discouraging  circumstances,  I  am  ready  to  aid yoar  views  by  all  proper  means 
within  my  power;  and,  iu  so  doing,  believe  I  embrace  the  views  of  the  government 
of  which  I  am  agent.  *  *  *  It  will  be  proper  for  me  to  be  more  particular, 
and  give  you  something  of  my  ideas  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  obstacle  to  be 
met. 

"First. — The  great,  and,  I  fear,  insurmountable  obstacle  is,  THE  INSATIABLE 
THIRST  FOR  INTOXICATING  LIQUORS  that  appears  to  be  born  with  all  the  yellow-skin  in- 
habitants of  America;  and  the  thirst  for  yain  of  [some  of]  the  citizens  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  appears  to  be  capable  of  eluding  all  the  vigilance  of  the  government  to 
'stop  the'distribution  of  liquor  among  them.  When  the  Indians  can  not  obtain  the 
means  of  intoxication  within  their  own  limits,  they  will  travel  any  distance  to  ob- 
tain it.  There  is  no  fatigue,  risk,  or  expense,  that  is  too  great  to  obtain  it.  In  some 
cases,  it  appears  to  be  valued  higher  than  life  itself.  If  a  change  of  habit  in  this 
can  be  effected,  all  other  obstacles  may  yield.  But  if  the  whites  can  not  be  re- 
strained from  furnishing  them  spirituous  liquors,  nor  they  from  the  use  of  them,  I 
fear  all  other  efforts  to  extend  to  them  the  benefitsof  civilization  will  prove  fruitless. 
The  knowledge  of  letters  serves  as  the  medium  of  entering  into  secret  arrangements 
•with  the  whites,  to  supply  the  means  of  their  o-wn  destruction,  and,  within  the  lim- 
its of  my  intercourse,  the  principal  use  of  the  knowledge  of  letters  br  civilized  lan- 
guage has  been  for  them  to  obtain  liquor  for  themselves  and  others. 

"  Secondly. — The  general  aversion  to  the  habits,  manners,  customs,  and  dress 
of  civilized  people ;  and,  in  many  cases,  an  Indian  is  an  object  of  jealousy  for 
being  acquainted  with  a  civilized  language,  and  it  is  made  use  of  as  a  subject  of  re- 
proach against  him. 

_ ««  Thirdly. — General  indolence,  connected  with  a  firm  conviction  that  the  life  of  a 
civilized  man  is  that  of  slavery,  andthat  savage  life  is  manhood,  ease  and  indepen- 
dence. 

"  Fourthly. — The  unfavorable  light  in  which  they  view  the  character  of  the  citi- 
zensof  the  United  States — bslieving  that  their  minds  are  so  occupied  in  trade  and 
speculation,  that  they  never  act  from  any  other  motives.  *  *  *  Their  opinion 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States  is,  in  some  degree,  more  favorable ;  but 
secretly,  they  view  all  white  people  as  their  enemies,  and  nre  extremely  suspicious 
of  every  thing  coming  from  them. 

"  All  the  Miamies,  and  Eel  river  Miamies,  arc  under  my  charge,  about  one  thou- 
sand four  hundred  in  number  ;  and  there  are  something  more  than  two  thousand 
Pottawattamies  who  come  within  my  agency.  The  proportion  of  children  can  not 
be  ascertained,  but  it  must  be  less  than  among  the  white  inhabitants  of  the  United 
States.  They  have  had  no  schools  or  missionaries  among  them  since  the  time  of  the 
French  Jesuits.  They  have  places  that  are  commonly  called  villages,  but,  perhnps 
not  correctly,  as  they  have  no  uniform  place  of  residence.  During  the  fall,  winter, 
and  pn-t  of  the  spring,  they  are  scattered  in  the  woods,  hunting.  The  respective 
band-i  assemble  in  the  spring  at  their  several  ordinary  places  of  resort,  where  some 
hu'e  rude  cabins,  made  of  small  lops,  covered  withbaVk  :  but  morccommonly.  coma 
pores  stuck  in  tha  ground  and  tied  together  with  pliant  blips  of  bark,  and  covered 
•with  targe  sheets  of  l>wk,  or  a  kind  of  mats,  made  ot  flags. 


HISTORY  OF  FOET 

these  places  of  r3«ort  they  plant,  some  corn.  There  are  eleven  of  these 
places  of  resort  -within  my  agency.  The  Miamies  and  Eel  river  Miamies  reside, 
principaly.on  the  Wabash,  Misaissinewaand  Eel  river,  and  at  the  head  of  White  river. 
The  Pottawattamies  [reside]  on  the  Tippecanoe,  Kankakee,  Iroquois,  Yellow  river, 
St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  Elkhart,  Miami  of  the  lake,  the  St.  Joseph  emp. 
tying  into  it,  and  the  St.  Mary's  river.  They  all  believe  in  a  God,  as  creator 
and  governor,  but  have  no  idea  of  his  will  being  communicated  to  man,  except  as  it 
apreirs  in  the  creation,  or  as  it  appears,  occasionally,  from  his  providential  gov- 
ernment. Some  of  them  had  been  told  of  other  communications  having  been  made 
to  the  white  peoples  long  time  since,  and  that  it  was  written  and  printed  ;  but  they 
neither  have  conception  nor  belief  in  relation  to  it.  Their  belief  in  a  future  existence  is 
a  kind  of  transubstantiation — a  removal  from  this  existence  to  one  more  happy,  with 
similiar  appetites  and  enjoyments.  They  talk  of  abad  spirit,but  never  express  any 
apprehensions  of  his  troubling  them  in  their  future  existence." 

Among  those  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade  at  this  point  and  at 
what  is  now  South  Bend,  in  1821,  were  Francis  Compare t,  with  the 
Pottawattamies,  at  the  latter  place,  and  Alexis  Coquillard,  with  the 
Miamies,  at  the  former.  Wm.  G.  and  Geo.  W.  Ewing  arrived  here 
in  1822,  and  began  to  trade  with  the  Indians. 

En  route  for  the  Mississippi,  General  Lewis  Cass  and  the  histori- 
an, H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  made  a  short  stop  at  this  point  in  June  1822, 
reaching  here  in  a  canoe  by  way  of  the  Maumee,  from  Detroit, 
whence  this  little  vessel  was  hauled  across  ihe  portage  to  Little 
river,  from  whence  they  proceeded  on  their  journey  to  the  Father  of 
Waters. 

The  following  year,  (1823,)  the  State  being  divided  into  two 
Congressionel  Districts,  John  Test,  of  Dearborn  county,  was  selec- 
ted representative  from  the  district,  then  embracing  Allen,  &c.,  at 
which  period  there  were  but  about  fifty  votes  polled  in  the  whole 
north  part  of  the  State  of  Indiana. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Scenes  varied — new  life — . 

Xew  acts  in  the  drama  ; 
Still  in  the  "  forest  deep  and  wild." 


Establishment  of  a  land  office  at  Fort  Wayne,  and  sale  of  lands — Purchase  of  Barr  and 
MeCorkle— The  original  plat--Donation  of  ground  for  burial  purposes,  and  upon 
which  to  erect  a  meeting  House  and  seminary— Purchase  of  Judge  Han na—Tho 
first  school- house  of  Fort  Wayne— -Early  school-teachers- --Great  abundance  offish 
in  the  Maumee---  Manufacture  of  oil--- What  the  Indians  thought---Buildings  and 
business  of  1819— Store  of  Samuel  Hanna  and  James  Barnett-- Appearance  of  the 
country  in  1819—Scarcity  of  settlers — The  Quaker  trace— Settlers  between  Fort 
Wayne  and  Richmond,  Ind.— Recollections  of  John  Stratten— Early  purchasers 
of  land  here—The  Wells  pre-emption— Organization  of  Allen  County— First  Ma- 
sonic organization  here—First  plat  of  Fort  Wayne  recorded  at  Winchester—- 
First election  of  county  officers — First  meeting  of  the  County  Board— -County  offi- 
cers— First  Justices  of  the  peace— Early  tavern  rates---  Taxation—Report  on  taxa- 
ble property— Wolf-scalp  certificates--  First  circuit  coxirt— First  grand  jury—First 
case  oa  docket- --First  application  for  divorce— -Tavern  license— Application  for  citi- 
zenship—Pay  of  officers— Meeting  of  court- -Attorney's  device  for  seal— Miles  C. 
Eggleston-  -Associate  Judges—Report  of  Grand  Jury— The  county  jail—Impris- 
onment for  debt— Court  sessions--  First  will  of  Allen  County — Murder  by  an  In- 
dian Chief,  (Big  Leg)— His  trial— First  restraining  case— Term  of  1831-  -County 
officers— Judge  Hanna  and  John  Right— Judge  Right  and  Pat.  Me Carty— Daniel 
Worth— Organization  of  Delaware  County— The  three  per  cent  fund— Grant  of 
land  by  Congress  for  canal  purposes—  Action  of  the  land  office-  -Cession  of  land 
to  the  State  of  Ohio  --Canal  stipulations— Canal  commissioners— Hon.  Oliver  H. 
Smith— Trip  to  Fort  Wayne,  by  Mr.  Smith,  Judge  Eggleston,  and  James  Rariden 
---Election  of  John  Test  and  Jonathan  MeOarty-  -Election  of  Mr.  Worth,  of  Ran- 
dolph County—Formation  of  Randolph,  Allen,  Delaware,  and  other  territories, 
adjoining  into  a  senatorial  district-  -Re-election  of  Mr.  Worth— Election  of  Mr. 
Holman— Allen,  Randolph,  St.  Joseph,  Elkhart.  and  Delaware  counties  formed 
into  a  senatorial  district-— Election  of  Messrs,  Worth,  Hanna,  Crawford,  and 
Colerick-  -County  Board  of  commissioners— -County  addition— -Taber's  addition— 
First  Probate  Court— -Letters  of  administration— Court  terms  ---Estate  of  Chief  La 
Gross-- Appointment  of  W.  G.  Ewing-  Judge  McCulloch— Lucien  B.  Ferry--- 
Elections  and  appointments---  Abolition  ot  the  Probate  Court  and  organization  of 
the  Common  Pleas  Court- -Election  of  Judge  Borden—  Organization  of  a  Criuiiu- 
Coort— Marriage  records. 


'HROUGH  an  act  of  Congress,  approved  by  the  President  of  tho 
United  States,  May  .8th,  1822,  a  land  office  was  established  at 
Fort  Wayne.  By  this  act  the  district  for  the  sale  of  lands  at  this 
point  was  also  defined,  and  the  President  appointed  Joseph  Hol- 
man,  of  Wayne  county,  Register,  and  Captain  Samuel  C.Vance, 


294:  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE, 

of  Dearborn  county,  Receiver.  After  the  survey  of  the  lands,  the 
President  issued  a  proclamation  for  their  sale,  to  the  highest  bidder, 
the  minimum  price  being  $1.25  per  acre  ;  and  the  sale  began  on  the 
22d  of  October,  1823,  at  the  fort.  Considerable  rivalry  having  been 
awakened,  touching  that  portion  which  embraced  the  town  and 
immediate  settlement — some  forty  acres,  in  the  immediate  locality 
of  the  fort,  being  reserved  for  the  use  of  the  Indian  Agent — the 
most  extensive  purchasers  thereof  were  Barr,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  and 
McCorkle  of  Piqua,  Ohio.  This  portion  of  the  city  is  marked  on 
the  city  maps  "  Old  Plat  to  Fort  Wayne,"  and  originally  designa- 
ted as  "the  north  fraction  of  the  south-east  quarter  of  section  two, 
township  thirty,  north  of  range  twelve  east ;"  and  it  was  on  this  that 
Messrs.  Barr  and  McCorkle  laid  off  the  original  plat  of  the  "  Town 
of  Fort  Wayne,"  as  surveyed  by  Robert  Young,  of  Piqua,  Ohio. 
This  plat  was  embraced  in  one  hundred  and  eighteen  lots.* 

In  this  plat,  Messrs.  Barr  and  McCorkle  set  apart  and  donated,  by 
deed,  a  body  of  ground,  some  four  rods  square,  as  a  free  place  of 
burial,  with  the  privilege  to  any  denomination,  that  might  form  a 
first  organization  here,  to  build  a  Church  thereon.  They  also  set 
apart  a  lot,  of  similar  dimensions,  and  adjoining  the  foregoing, 
upon  which  to  erect  an  educational  institute  or  seminary. 

But  all  marks  of  these  donations  have  long  since  been  destroyed — 
the  pointf  alone  remaining  lo  remind  the  reader  of  the  thoughtful 
character  of  the  donors. 

In  subsequent  years,  Judge Hanna  having  purchased  all  the  Barr 
and  McCorkle  claims  here,  and  the  lots  donated,  as  in  the  foregoing, 
being  laid  off  by  Mr.  Hanna  as  a  part  of  the  place,  for  general 
building  purposes,  the  dead  of  the  grave-yard,  were,  in  1838-9,  re- 
moved, at  public  expense  or  by  loved  friends,  to  the  general  ceme- 
tery, west  of  Fort  Wayne. 

Of  the  seminary  or  school-house  erected  on  the  donation  of  Barr 
and  McCorkle,  the  "Fort  Wayne  Times,"  as  late  as  1858,  in  some 
sketches  of  the  place  by  the  editor,  says :  "  In  this  old  school- 
huose,  many  of  those,  then  young,  but  now  past  middle  life  who 
yet  live  here,  many  dead,  and  others  absent,  had  their  early  train- 
ing for  usefulness  ;  and  many  there  experienced  that  joy  only  once 
to  be  enjoyed  in  a  life-time  ;  while,  perhaps,  nearly  every  teacher, 
who  there  disciplined  the  youthful  mind,  has  gone  to  his  final  ac- 
count, 'and  soon  here  to  be  entirely  forgotten.  *  *  *  This 
old  school- house  was  built  of  brick,  in  1825,  and  was  then  quite 

*  Running  north  to  Water  street,  on  the  bank  of  the  slough,  where  the 
water  from  the  City  Mills  now  discharges,  south  to  the  alley  south  of  the 
first  Presbyterian  Church,  west  to  Calhoun  street,  and  east  to  a  line  running 
just  east  of  Barr  street.  The  reason,  for  the  peculiar  direction  of  the  streets,  as  variant 
'?rom  a  north  and  south  line,  is  this,  that  some  buildings  had  been  put  up  by  the  set- 
tle s  and  temporary  streets  thus  adopted,  which  caused  the  proprietors  to  adopt  the sur- 
voy  to  the  convenience  of  those  squatters,  who  would,  it  was  thought,  buy  the  lots  on 
whicu  their  improvements  should  happen  to  fall. — "  Fort  Wayne  Times,"  1858. 

f  Just  Twst  oi'  the  county  jail,  on.  Calhoun  street,  and  north  of  what  is  now  Water 
tr«it. 


GREAT  QCTAKTITIKS  OF  FISH  IJN  THE  MAUMEK.  295 

large  enough  for  all  needed  purposes.  *  *  *  It  was  only 
one  story  in  height,  and  served,  for  many  years,  not  only  as  a  school- 
house,  but  as  the  place  of  religious  worship,  town  meetings,  Ma- 
sonic installations,  political  speeches,  &c." 

J.  P.  Hedges,  who  still  survives  as  "  one  of  the  old  ones  of  the 
old  ones,"  of  Fort  Wayne,  was  among  the  first  teachers  in  this 
old  pioneer  school-house.  In  the  winter  of  1S2G,  he  had  it  plas- 
tered at  his  own  expense,  that  it  might  be  the  more  comfortable 
and  neat.  A  Mr.  A.  Aughinbaugh  also  taught  in  this  old  school- 
house  at  an  early  period.  Mr.  A,,  previous  to  1833,  had  charge  of 
the  county  seminary,  at  which  latter  period,  it  is  presumed  he  took 
charge  of  a  school  in  the  old  brick  school-house.  It  will  not  be 
out  of  place  here  to  remark  that  the  old  county  jail,  Avhich,  up  to 
1847,  stood  on  the  south-west  cor-nerofCalhounandthe  court-house 
square,  was  used  for  some  time  as  a  school-room,  in  which  Henry 
Cooper,  Esq.,  taught  ;  and  Mr.  Cooper  is  claimed  as  the  h'rst  school- 
teacher of  the  place. 

The  Indians,  perhaps  for  centuries,  had  been  accustomed  to  look 
to  the  streams  here  for  much  of  their  food  in  the  form  of  fish,  so 
abundant  were  they  from  Lake  Erie  to  this  point,  and  for  some 
distance  up  the  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph.  During  seasons  of  fresh- 
ets, in  great  quantities,  and  some  of  them  very  large,  they  would 
find  their  way  up  the  Maumee  from  the  lake,  and  when  the  high 
water  subsided,  they  were  often  so  numerous,  that  it  was  difficult 
to  ride  a  horse  or  drive  a  team  across  the  streams  here  without  the 
animals  or  the  wheels  of  the  vehicles  running  over  some  of  the  finny 
tribe  ;  and  some  years  ago,  a  company  from  Cincinnati  began,  an'd 
for  several  years  carried  on,  the  manufacture  of  oil  from  the  fish 
caught  here.  Many  boys  and  Indians  made  very  good  wages  by 
catching  the  fish  for  the  company.  The  Indians  had  always  been 
of  the  belief  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  thus  filled  these  streams  with 
fish  for  their  special  benefit,  and  when,  a  few  years  subsequent  to 
the  period  in  question,  a  dam  was  built  near  the  mouth  ot  the 
^Maumee,  at  the  Lake,  and  the  fish  prevented  from  getting  into  this 
stream,  as  their  number  gradually  diminished,  and  the  company 
compelled  to  cease  its  operations  thereby,  the  Indians  expressed 
great  displeasure,  and  considered  it  a  direct  encroachment  upon 
their  rights,  and  the  designs  of  the  Great  Spirit. 

Among  the  buildings  erected  here  in  1819,  was  a  log  house,  by 
Samuel  Ilanna,  at  the  north-west  corner  of  Barr  and  Columbia  st's., 
•where  his  brick  block  was  some  years  ago  erected,  and  still  stands.* 
In  this  log  edifice,  he  and  James  Barnett  opened  a  considerable 
etore,  for  wholesaling  to  traders,  in  which  business  and  building 
they  continued  for  several  years — their  goods  reaching  here  from 
the  east,  by  way  of  Detroit,  Toledo,  and  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee, 
from  which  point  they  arrived  here  in  pirogues,  a  kind  of"  dug  out," 
thaugh  usually  quite  long,  and  of  one  solid  tree. 

*  See  sketch  of  Mr.  Hanna  in  latter  part  of  this  volntne. 


296  HISTOKY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

At  this  period,  the  north-west  was  yet  a  comparative  wilderness. 
On  the  Wayne  trace,  already  alluded  to  on  a  former  page,  not  a 
house  was  to  be  met  with  between  this  and  "  twenty-four  mile 
Creek."  At  this  point,  there  resided  a  man  by  the  name  of  George 
Ayres,  near  Wiltshire.  By  the  St.  Joseph  trace,  the  nearest  was 
the  house  of  a  Colonel  Jackson,  on  Elk  Hart  Prairie ;  and  it  was 
not  until  a  few  years  later,  that  a  house  appeared,  in  which  Joel 
Bristols  lived,  about  three  miles  south  of  Wolf  Lake,  in  what  is 
now  Noble  county.  At  a  later  period,  about  four  miles  north  of 
Kendallville,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Norris  settled  ;  where  Lima  is 
now  located.  On  what  was  known,  at  an  early  day,  as  the  "  Quaker 
trace,"  a  lew  miles' this  side  of  .Richmond,  Indiana,  there  was  an 
occasional  house  to  be  seen  ;  a  man  by  the  name  of  Robinson  lived 
on  the  Wabash,  about  thirty  miles  south  of  Fort  Wayne;  and  a  few 
Quaker  missionaries  had  a  small  settlement  at  the  forks  of  the  Wa- 
bash, where  they  gave  the  Indians  instructions,  as  at  WTa-pa-kon- 
netta,  Ohio,  in  the  art  of  agriculture.* 

At  the  sale  of  lands  at  the  fort,  as  already  mentioned,  "  the  south 
half  of  the  south-east  quarter  of  the  section  referred  to,  and  im- 
mediately south  of  that  on  which  the  original  town  was  laid  off, 
was  also  purchased  by  Barr  and  McCorkle,  running  to  the  section, 
line,  and  also  the  south-west  quarter  of  section  one,  just  on  the 
east  of  the  fort ;  while  Alexander  Ewing  got  the  east  half  south- 
west quarter  of  section  two — same  on  which  Swings'  and  Rockhill's 
addition  were  laid  out  afterwards.  *  *  The  section  of  land  over 
in  the  forks  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph,  known  as  the  '  Wells 
pre-emption,'  had  been,  by  an  act  of  Congress,  May  18th,  1808, 
set  apart  as  a  pre-emption  to  Captain  Wells,  who  was  authorized 
to  enter  it,  when  adjacent  lands  should  be  offered  at  $1.25  per 
acre ;  but  having  lost  his  life,  as  the  reader  has  already  seen,  in 
1812,  his  heirs  were  thereafter  authorized  to,  and  entered  it,  at  this 
land  sale,  at  $1.25  per  acre."f 

By  an  act  of  the  legislature  of  1823,|  the  present  county  of  Allen 
was  organized,  as  then  forming  a  part  of  Randolph  and  Delaware 
counties;  and  James  Ray,  of  Indianapolis,  W.  M.  Conner,  of  Ham- 
ilton county,  and  Abaithes  Hathaway,  were  commissioned  to  deter- 

*  John  Stratten,  Esq  ,  now  residing  some  six  miles  north  of  Fort  Wayne,  came  here 
about  1824-5,  from  Wayne  county-  near  Richmond,  mainly  by  way  of  the  Robinson 
trace,  with  a  load  of  boots  and  slices,  which  he  then  sold  to  theMefsrs.  Ewing,  tra- 
ding here.  At  I  hat  time,  he  says,  there  were  not  more  than  six  or  eight  houses  to  be 
seen  between  Fort  Wayne  and  Richmond. and  the  best  house  to  be  seen  here  at  that  period 
was  a  hewed  log  house,  one  and  a  half  stories  high,  kept  as  a  tavern  ;  besides  which,  he 
gays,  there  were  but  about  eight  ordinary  pole  cabins.  Besides  the  Ewings,  he  met 
Pe'ter  Kisrr  here  at  that  time,  who  is  still  a  goodly  citizen  of  Fort  Wayne,  and,  as  for 
many  years  past,  still  eagaged  in  the  sale  of  Dry  Goods,  Groceries,  <tc. 

t  "Fort Wayne  Times,"  1858. 

*The  first  Masonic  organization  here  was  formed  in  this  year,  (1823)  and  known  as 
'<  Wayne  Lodge,  No.  25,  F.  A.  M."  The  place  of  meeting  was' within  the  pickets  of 
the  fvirt,  in  the  room  of  General  John  Tipton.  at  which  place  the  order  regularly  n  •', 
until  imally  removed  to  the  old  Washington  Hall  building,  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Columbia  and  Ban-  streets. 


FIRST  COUNTY  OFFICERS  OF  ALLEN  COUNTY.  297 

mine  upon  the  county  seat,  which  they  agreed  upon  in  the  early 
part  of  1824.* 

In  the  last  week  of  May,  in  this  year,  the  first  election  for  county 
officers  occurred  ;  and  the  first  session  of  the  "  County  Board"  was 
held  on  the  31st  of  May,  the  same  month;  the  Board  was  constitu- 
ted of  the  following-  persons:  Wm.  Rockhill,  James  Wyman,  and 
Francis  Comparet. 

The  county  officers  were  :  Anthony  L.  Davi?,  Clerk ;  Allen 
Hamilton,  Sheriff;  Samuel  Hanna  and  Benjamin  Cushman,  Asso- 
ciate Judges;  Joseph  Holman,  Treasurer;  H.  B.  JVIcKeen,  first 
Assessor;  Lambert  Cushoois,  first  Constable  of  Wayne  township, 
then  embracing  the  entire  county;  W.  T.  Daviss,  Overseer  of  the 
Poor ;  R.  Hars,  Inspector  of  Elections  ;  Israel  Taylor,  Joseph  Trout- 
ner,  and  Moses  Scott.  Fence  Viewers  ;  Samuel  Hanna,  Road  Su- 
pervisor for  the  township. 

At  the  first  session  of  the  Board,  an  election  for  three  Justices 
of  the  Peace,  for  the  township,  was  ordered,  which  resulted  in  the 
choice  of  Alexander  Ewing,  Wm.  N.  Hood,  and  Wm.  Rockhill, 
who  then  assumed  the  position,  ex  officio,  of  the  "Board  of  Justices," 
taking  the  place  of  County  Commissioners.  Their  first  session  was 
held  October  22d,  1824,  at  which  time  the  commissioners  gave 
notice  of  the  location  of  a  "  State  Road  from  Vernon,  in  Jen- 
nings county,  by  way  of  Greensburgh,  Rushville,  and  New  Castle, 
to  Fort  Wayne." 

The  following  were  the  tavern  rates  at  that  early  period  :  Keep- 
ing horse,  night  and  day,  50  cts ;  Breakfast,  Dinner  and  Supper,  each 
25  cts. ;  Lodging,  per  night,  12£  cts.;  whisky,  per  quart,  12|  cts. ; 
Brandy,  per  quart,  50  cts.;  Gin,  per  quart,  374- cts. ;  Porter,  per 
bottle,  374-  cts.;  Cider,  per  quart,  18f  cts. 

In  matters  of  taxation,  the  rates  were  arranged  as  follows  :  For 
every  male,  over  21  years  of  age,  50  cts. ;  for  a  horse,  gelding,  or 
mare,  over  3  years  old,  37%  cts. ;  every  work  ox,  18f  cts. ;  stallion, 
prices  of  the  season;  gold  watch,  §51.00;  silver  watch,  25  cts. ; 
pinchh-ack,  25  cts.;  four-wheeled  pleasure  carriages,  $1.00.  The 
report  of  Mr.  Holman  on  taxable  property  for  1824,  was  $112.62, 
embracing  delinquents,  errors,  &c. 

The  State,  at  this  period,  and  for  some  years  later,  granted  cer- 
tificates of  bounty  on  all  wolf  scalps  taken,  which  certificates 
were  received  by  the  collector  for  taxes.  "  So  small  was  the  tax," 
it  is  said,  "  that  the  State  revenue  due  from  this  county,  was  near- 
ly all  paid  off  in  these  certificates,  which  were  usually  sent  up  to 
Indianapolis  by  the  representatives."  f 

The  first  circuit  court  held  in  Allen  county,  was  on  the  9th  of 
August,  1824,  which  then  embraced  what  is  now  Adams,  Wells, 

*  The  original  plat  of  Fort  Wayne,  as  laid  out  in  this  year,  was  duly  recorded  at 
Winchester,  in  Randolph  county,  which,  as  the  records  of  the  Recorder's  office  here 
exhibit,  were  subsequently  transferred  to  Allen. 

t  "  Fort  Wayne  Timco/'  1858. 


298  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  W 


Huntington,  and  \Thitley  counties.  C.  W.  Ewing,  was  at  this  time 
prosecuting  Attorney.  John  Tip  ton  .was  made  foreman  of  the 
grand  jury,  which  was  composed  as  follows:  Paul  Taber,  William 
Suttenfield  Alexander  Ewing,  James  W.  Hackley,  Chales  Weeks, 
John  Daviss,  Wm.  Probst,  Horace  Taylor,  James  Wyman,  James 
Conner,  Cyrus  Taber,  and  W.N.  Hood,  Peter  Felix  being  discharg- 
ed. The  first  case  found  on  the  docket  was  that  of  Richard  Swain, 
vs.  Joseph  Troutner,  for  trespass  ;  and  continued.  At  this  time,  W. 
G.  Ewing  was  admitted  to  the  bar*  as  a  practitioner  at  law. 

The  first  application  for  a  divorce  in  the  county,  occurred  during 
the  first  session  ot  this  court.  The  names  oi  the  party  were  A. 
Canada  and  Nathaniel  Canada;  which  was  continued.  The  near- 
est paper  at  that  time,  in  which  such  matters  received  publicity, 
was  the  Richmond*  Ind.,  Enquirer,  about  one  hundred  miles  from 
Fort  Wayne. 

Two  applications  for  license,  to  open  taverns  here,  were  also 
made  at  this  term  of  the,  court,  by  W  ra.  Suttenfield  and  Alexander 
Ewing  —  the  former  on  the  corner  of  Barr  and  Columbia  streets  ; 
the  latter  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Barr  and  Columbia.  An  ap- 
plication was  also  made  for  citizenship,  during  this  term,  by  Fran- 
cis Aveiine,  or  St.  Jule,  as  then  known,  father  of  Francis  A  Ave- 
line  ;  which  was  granted.  The  St.  Jule  family,  (French)  came 
fro-m  Vincennes  to  this  place. 

Some  indictments  were  found  against  parties  for  selling  liquor 
without  license,  &c.,  at  this  term  ot  the  court  —  each  being  fined 
$3  and  cost.  In  one  instance,  for  gambling,  a  man  was  fined  $10. 
The  first  master  in  chancery  of  this  Court,  was  Charles  W.  Ew- 
ing, then  a'young  lawyer  of  much  ability.  "  To  show  the  differ- 
ence, between  the  manner  of  allowances  of  that  day  and  this, 
when  six  times  as  much  service  was  rendered  in  a  given  time, 
*  *  *  the  records  show  that  Rob't  Hood,*  (well  remem- 
bered by  our  old  citizens.)  was  allowed  75  cts.  per  day  for  three 
days'  service  as  bailift'to  the  Circuit  Court  ;  Allen  Hamilton  $16.66 
for  four  months  service  as  Sheriff  of  Allen  county  ;  and  Charles 
W  Ewing,  for  his  services  as  Prosecuting  Attorney,  for  the  term, 
$5.  This  court  after  a  session  of  three  days,  adjourned  on  the  12ui 
of  August,  1824,  to  convene  again  as  the  Court  in  course."f  The 
following  year,  1825,  the  Board  of  Justices  appointed  W.  G.  Ewing 
county  treasurer  ;  and  the  second  term  of  the  circuit  court  was 
convened  at  the  residence  of  Alexander  Ewing,  on  the  6th  of 
June  —  Hon.  F.  Morris,  of  the  fifth  judicial  circuit,  a  resident  of 
Indianapolis,  presiding  —  Judge  Uanna  officiating  in  the  capacity 
of  Associate  Justice.  James  Rariclen,  and  Calvin  Fletcher  were 
admitted  as  practitioners  of  law  at  this  term  —  both  men  of  consid- 

*  A  very  kind-hearted  man,  always  read}-,  in  those  early  days,  to  entertain  the  stran- 
ger and  aid  the  western  mover,  when  ever  occasion  presented  ;  and  many  were  the  in- 
teresting adventures  and  laughable  stoi-ies  he  related  to  his  old  friends  and  the  many 
Grangers  then  often  gathered  about  the  big  fire  of  the  log-cabin  in  winter. 

f  Fort  Wayne  Time*,"  1858. 


COUKT  SESSIONS.  299 

erable  distinction  in  after  years.  Henry  Cooper,  a  man  of  many 
estimable  qualities,  long  since  deceased,  was  also  admitted  to  the 
bar,  at  this  term  of  the  court,  which  continued  only  five  days. 
The  third  term  of  this  court  was  convened  at  the  house  of  Wm. 
Suttenfield,  on  the  21st  of  November,  1825,  Judges  Hanna  and 
Cushman  presiding ;  and  it  was  at  this  term  that  a  device  for  a 
seal  was  reported  by  Charles  W.  Ewing.  Calvin  Fletcher 
having  presented  his  commission,  was  also  sworn  as  Prosecuting 
Attorney  at  this  time. 

The  term  which  convened  13th  February,,  the  year  following, 
1826,  was  held  at  the  residence  of  Alexander  Ewing,  Judges  Han- 
na and  Cushman  presiding,  Hiram  Brown,  of  Indianapolis,  a»d 
Moses  Cox,  being  sworn  in  as  attorneys,  and  Calvin  Fletcher  re- 
ceiving the  appointment  of  prosecuting  attorney. 

But  two  indictments  were  issued  by  the  grand  jury  at  this  term 
— one  against  an  Indian,  known  as  Sa-ga-naugh,  for  murder,  and 
the  other  against  a  man  by  the  name  of  Elisha  B.  Harris,*  familiar- 
ly known  as  "  Yankee  Harris,"  for  larceny,  neither  ol  which,  how- 
ever, caine  to  trial. 

At  the  next  regular  sitting,  August  13th,  of  this  year,  Hon. 
Miles  C.  Eggleston,  of  Madison,  then  pronounced  one  of  the  best 
nisi  prius  judges  of  the  west,  presented  his  commission  at  the 
court  here,  as  president  judge,  was  sworn  in,  and  presided  over 
the  third  term,  Benjamin  Cushman  acting  as  Associate  Judge, 
Cyrus  Taber,  (afterwards  of  Logansport, where  he  died  some  3rears 
ago,)  sheriff,  and  Amos  Lane,  of  Lawrenceburgh,  father  of  Hon. 
James  H.  Lane,  of  Kansas,  was  sworn  in  a?  prosecuting  attorney. 

The  report  of  the  grand  jury,  at  this  session,  of  which  John  P. 
Hedges,  now  among  the  last  of  the  old  pioneer  stock  yet  remain- 
ing, was  foreman,  relates  to  the  county  jail,  and  runs  as  follows: 

"  We,  the  grand  jury,  empannelled  for  the  county  of  A.llen,  and  State  of  Indiana, 
after  examining  the  county  jail,  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  criminals'  rooms  are  not  a 
place  of  safety  ior  persons  committed  thereto;  that  the  debtors'  room,  upper  department 
of  said  jail,  is  not  in  a  suitable  condition  for  the  reception  of  debtors,  from  the  want  of 
locks,  floor,  and  bedding.  "JoHX  P.  HEDGES,  Foreman." 

As  this  report  clearly  attests,  imprisonment  for  debt  was  a  com- 
mon custom  at  this  period,  and  continued  for  some  years  alter  to 
be  a  common  law  in  the  land.  At  this  session,  Judge  Eggleston 
presented  a  report  relative  to  the  mode  of  keeping  a  marriage  record 
by  the  clerk.  No  marriage  record  having  been  previously  kept,  it 
was  thereafter  determined  to  keep  such  a  register. 

The  next  session  met  at  Wm.  Suttenfields',  August  27th,  1827, 
Messrs.  Eggleston,  Hood  and  Cushman,  presiding,  Abner  Gerrard, 
acting  as  sheriff,  Oliver  H.  Smith,  being  sworn  in  as  prosecuting 

*  Harris  was  a  singular  character.  He  lived  on  the  St.  Mary's,  about  seven  miles 
from  Fort  Wayne.  Had  early  adopted  for  his  life's  motto — "To  be  as  honest  as  the  na- 
ture of  the  circumstances  would  permit."  He  seems  to  have  possessed  a  considerable 
amount  of  common  sense,  but  his  main  failing  was,  toengagein  as  many  law  suits  as 
possible,  and  ir  that  way,  in  part,  gained  a  very  unenviable  reputation. 


300  HlSTOEY    OF   FOKT 

attorney.     At  this  time,  Wm.  Quarles,  of  Indianapolis,  was  licensed 
to  practice  as  an  attorney. 

The  next  term  began  May  12th  1828,  at  the  residence  of  Ben- 
jamin Archer,  and  was  presided  over  by  Judges  Hood  and  Cush- 
man,  at  which  time,  Charles  H.  Test,  and  Andrew  Ingram  were 
sworn  in  as  attorneys,  and  Mr.  Test,  late  Secretary  of  State,  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  term. 

It  was  at  this  session  that  the  fir.st  will  was  recorded  in  Allen 
county.  The  party  thus  recording,  was  Abrana  Burnett. 

At  the  next  term,  November  10th,  1828,  Messrs.  Hood  and 
Cushman,  .presiding.  David  Wallace,subsequently  Governor  of  the 
State,  was  sworn  in  and  appointed  special  prosecutor.  It  was  at 
this  term  that  the  first  conviction  of  felony  occurred — the  State 
Vs.  Joseph  Doane,  who  was  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  three  v 
years. 

The  next  term  began  May  llth,  18'29,  Judges  Eggleston  and- 
Hood  presiding;  Martin  M.  Ray  sworn  in  as  prosecuting  attor- 
ney. At  this  term  Joseph  Carville,  for  larceny,  was  sentenced  ior 
three  years  to  the  state's  prison.  During  the  vacation  that  fol- 
owed,  Anthony  L.  Davis  having  resigned  the  clerkship,  on  the 
14th  of  October,  1829,  the  Associate  Judge  met  and  appointed  Jo- 
seph Holman  thereto,  but  to  which  position  Robert  Hood  was 
subsequently  elected,  to  assume  the  duties  of  the  office  from  Febru- 
ary 15th,  1830.  On  the  10th  of  May,  of  this  year,  C.  H.  Test, 
presenting  his  commission  as  President  Judge,  began  the  term  of 
1830,  with  Wm  N.  Hood,  Associate  Judge  ;  Robert  Hood  as  Glerk ; 
James  Perry  as  prosecuting  attorney;  Thomas  J.  Evans  being 
sworn  in  as  attorney,  while  David  H.  Colerick,  Esq.,  was  sworn 
in  as  attorney,  ex  gratis,  for  the  term. 

At  this  term  a  case  of  murder  came  up  for  trial.  A  Miami  In- 
dian, known  as  Ne-we-ling-gua,  or  (Big-Leg,)  being  the  accused. 
A  half  Indian  and  negro  woman,  whom  he  claimed  as  his  slave, 
had  been  in  the  habit,  of  entering  his  cabin  during  his  absence,, 
and  taking  his  meat.  After  repeatedly  warning  her  to  desist,  he 
at  length  told  her  that  if  she  disobeyed  him  again,  he  would  kill 
her.  From  her  residence  among  the  clan,  of  which  Big-Leg  was 
chief,  whose  village  was  on  the  Wabash,  a  few  miles  from  Fort 
Wayne,  with  a  view  to  escape  the  fate  that  she  knew  must  befall 
her,  after  a  further  disregard  of  the  commands  of  the  chief,  the 
woman  came  to  Fort  Wayne,  and  was  soon  employed  by  some  of 
the  citizens. 

Shortly  after  her  departure,  Big  Leg  came  to  town,  too,  and 
wandering  about,  he  soon  discovered  her  washing,  at  a  house  then 
standing  about  what  is  now  the  southeast  corner  of  Clinton  and 
Columbia  streets.  Stealing  suddenly  upon  her,  with  his  long 
knife  ready  for  her  destruction,  he  plunged  it  into  her  with  such 
force,  that  it  is  said  the  blade  passed  through  her  body,  and  she 
fell  dead  at  his  feet;  whereupon  he  proudly  ejaculated,  "was'nt 


TKIAL  OF  BIG-LEG.  301 

that  nice  ! "  Though  no  uncommon  thing,  at  that  period,  for  the 
Indians  visiting  here  to  kill  each  other,  and  for  which  no 
redress*  had  ever  been  sought  by  the  authorities,  the  citizens  here, 
who  were  then  largely  outnumbered  by  the  Indians  of  the  region, 
were  greatly  incensed  at  this  terrible  procedure  of  Big-Leg,  anid  the 
civil  authorities  at  once  had  the  chief  arrested,  and  placed  in  the 
old  county  jail. 

His  main  plea  was  that  the  woman  belonged  to  him — was  hia 
property,  and  that  he  had  a  right  to  do  what  he  pleased  with  her. 
When  told  that  he  was  to  be  hanged  for  the  offense,  he  could  not 
comprehend  it,  but  seemed  to  get  the  idea  that  it  was  some  such 
operation  as  that  he  had  often  witnessed  in  the  use  of  the  old 
steel  yards  by  the  traders  in  weighing  venison,  &c.,  and  concluded 
that  he  was  to  be  weighed  until  he  was  dead ;  which  fact  soon  be- 
came commonly  understood  among  the  Indians  of  his  tribe  and 
the  region  here ;  and  as  he  was  a  chief  much  regarded  by  his 
clan,  they  early  sought  to  exchange  him  for  one  of  their  number, 
whom  they  considered  rather  worthless  ;  but  without  avail. 

Having  received  some  explanations  as  to  his  probable  fate  by 
hanging,  or  weighing,  as  he  understood  it,  which  he  seemed  to  re- 
gard as  fixed,  he,  with  his  friends,  thought  to  have  the  experiment 
tried  upon  a  dog,  in  order  to  see  how  the  animal  would  act.  Ac- 
cordingly, while  the  chief  was  still  confined  in  the  jail,  a  number 
of  his  Indian  friends  collected  about  the  outside  of  the  prison,  in 
view  of  a  small  opening,  where  the  chief  could  look  out  and  see 
the  action  of  the  canine  as  his  Indian  friends  proceeded  to  execute 
him.  Placing  a  rope  around  the  animal's  neck,  and  suspending 
him  from  a  pole  that  had  been  arranged  for  the  purpose,  at 
the  height  of  a  few  feet  from  the  ground,  by  means  of  crossed 
stakes  driven  into  the  earth,  the  dog  was  soon  dangling  in  the  air. 
Observing  the  animal  very  closely  through  the  grates  of 
the  jail,  the  violent  throes  and  contortions  of  the  dog  at  once  gave 
him  a  great  aversion  to  hanging,  or  being  thus  weighed  till  he  was 
dea:l;  and  when  the  jailor  again  made  his  appearance,he  urged  that 
he  might  be  shot,  rather  than  be  killed  by  such  a  process  as  that 
he  had  seen  tried  on  the  dog.f 

When  his  trial  came  on,  John  B.  Bonrie  and  chief  Rich- 
arclville  acted  as  interpreters.  He  was  convicted,  but  being  re- 
commended to  mercy  by  the  jury,  the  governor  subsequently 
granted  him  a  pardon;  and  in  1848,  with  a  body  of  Miamies,  he 
removed  to  Kansas. 

The  first  restraining  case  that  came  before  the  court  of  Allen 
county,  was  that  of  Maria  Caswell,  vs.  Wm.  Caswell,  to  prevent 
the  latter  from  selling  certain  property  during  the  pendency  of  a 

*  Indian  usage  guaranteed  the  right  to  kill  one  another,  if  they  saw  proper,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  revenge,  or  for  other  r<»ions,  without  any  other  punishment  than  that  often 
sought  to  be  inflicted  by  way  of  common  retaliation  for  the  murder  of  friends. 

t  Recollections  of  T.  W.  Hodd,  'Squire  John  Dubois,  and  others,  then  residing  here* 


302  HISTORY  OP  FORT  WAYNE. 

suit  for  divorce.  This  case  came  up  at  the  September  term,  1830, 
Judges  Hood  and  Cushman  presiding. 

But  little  was  now  done  in  court  matters  until  the  latter  partof 
1831,  when  Judges  Test,  Hood,  and  Lewis  G.  Thompson,  (the  lat- 
ter of  whom  had  then  but  recently  been  elected,)  presided  as 
Judges.  Allen  Hamilton  was  now  clerk,  and  David  Pickering* 
sheriff.  As  clerk,  Mr.  Hamilton  had  been  commissioned  for  sev- 
en years,  beginning  with  June  14th,  1831,  all  of  which  period  he 
served.  David  H.  Colerick  was  also  again  sworn  in  as  attorney 
for  the  term. 

The  first  case,  that  of  H.  Cooper,  vs.  J.  Wheeler,  sent  down 
from  the  Supreme  Court,  occurred  at  this  time.  The  case  had 
been  reversed. 

The  spring  term  of  1832  began  April  9th.  and  was  presided  over 
by  Judges  Hood  and  Thompson,  W.  J.  Brown  acting  as  prosecut- 
ing attorney.  Gustavus  A.  Everett,  and  John  S.  Newman  ap- 
peared as  attorneys,  and  David  H.  Colerick,  Esq.,  having  produced 
a  license,  signed  by  Judges  Test  and  Morris,  was  then  fully  ad- 
mitted as  a  practitioner  at  the  bar. 

In  1826,  Samuel  Hanna  was  elected  a  representative  to  the  Leg- 
islature, the  district  then  being  composed  of  Randolph  and  Allen 
counties — Jay,  Adams,  Well*,  and  Delaware,  having  since  been 
formed  out  of  these,  Ihe  limits  of  Allen  then  embracing  the  terri- 
tory of  about  all  of  these  latter  counties,  west  to  the  Illinois  line. 
Mr.  Hanna's  opponent,  at  this  time,  was  John  Right,*  of  Winches- 
ter, formerly  a  representative  from  Randolph,  and  the  adjoining 
district.  As  representative  Mr.  Hanna  now  served  but  one  term. 

Daniel  Worth,  of  Randolph  county,  was  the  successor  to  Mr. 
Hanna. 

During  this  legislative  term  of  Judge  Hanna,  Delaware  county 
was  organized  ;  and  a  considerable  region  of  country  then  lying 
between  Randolph  and  Allen  counties  received  the  name  of 
"  Adams,"  but  was  not  organized  as  a  county  until  1836.  At  that 
period  the  three  per  cent,  tund,  amounting  to  about  $500  for  each 
couniy,  was  appropriated  by  the  State,  to  the  use  of  the  different 
counties,  for  the  purpose  of  opening  roads.  The  territory  then 

*  In  those  Pioneer  days,  when  log  cabins  of  various  dimensions,  served  for  the  gen- 
eral purposes  of  dwelling,  court-room  and  tavern,  wherein,  in  the  latter  case,  many 
often  slept  in  the  same  room,  and  not  unfrequently,when  very  much  crowded,  two  and 
three  in  a  bed,  Mr,  Right,  while  attending  court  in  this  district,  of  which,  at  the 
time,  he  was  Judge,  the  landlord  of  the  house  in  which  he  was  stopping,  being  very 
much  crowded,  requested  the  Judge  to  receive  a  bed-fellow  for  the  night  in  question, 
that  all  might  be  accommodated.  Being  averse  to  "  strange  bed-fellows."  the  Judge 
was  by  no  means  favorable  to  the  proposition  of  the  landlord  ;  but  being  assured  that 
the  man  was  a  very  clever  fellow,  a  good-natured  Irishman,  by  the  name  of  McCarty, 
— the  Judge  at  length  consented,  and  the  two  were  soon  "  in  the  one  bed,"  with  a  FEW 
OTHER  BEDS  IN  THK  SAME  ROOM,  all  as  full  as  that  occupied  by  the  Judge  and  his  friend 
McCarty.  Avrakeuing  "  bright  and  early"  the  next  morning,  the  Judge  began  to  quiz 
his  Irish  friend.  "  Pat,"  said  the  Judge, "  I  guess  you'd  have  lived  a  long  time  in  the 
old  country  before  you'd  have  had  the  honor  of  sleeping  with  a  Judge." 

"Yes,  bejabers,"  quickly  replied  Pat  ;  "and  if  you'd  lived  in  Inland,  it  would  bivfr 
been  a  mighty  longtime  before  you'd  uv  had  the  honor  of  being  a  judge." 


COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  WABASH  AND  ERIE  CANAL,          303 

embraced  within  the  boundaries  of  Allen,  was  so  extensive,  that 
the  sum  allowed  her  for  road  purposes,  was  considered  of  little  val- 
ue in  carrying  out  the  design  of  the  appropriation;  and  Judge 
Hanna  drew  the  amount  coming  to  Allen  county,  and  bestowed  it 
upon  what  was  afterwards  called  and  organized  as  Adams  county. 

In  the  following  }7ear,  (1827,)  on  the  2d  of  March,  by  an  act  of 
Congress,  "  every  alternate  section  of  land,  equal  to  live  miles  in 
width,"  on  both  sides  of  what  is  now  the  Wabash  and  Erie  canal, 
"was  granted  to  the  State  of  Indiana,"  for  the  purpose  of  construct- 
ing "  a  canal  from  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  \Vabash,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Tippecanoe  river,  to  the  foot  of  the  Mauniee  Rapids," 
the  same  to  be  commenced  at  the  expiration  of  the  five  years  fol- 
lowing the  passage  of  the  act;  "  and  to  be  completed  within  twen- 
ty years  "  from  that  time. 

Soon  after  this  grant,  the  Land  Office  Commissioners  closed  the 
sales  and  entry  of  all  government  lands  lying  along  and  embraced 
within  the  limits  of  said  grant,  until  such  time  as  "the  State  should 
select  and  locate  her  bounty  under  the  grant,"  which,  for  a  time, 
had  the  efiect  to  retard,  rather  than  superinduce  and  encourage  set- 
tlement in  the  northern  portion  of  the  State,  and  along  the  region 
of  the  intended  line  of  canal.  A  large  body  of  this  land,  amount- 
ing to  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres,  lay  in  the  State  of 
Ohio,  which  were  eventually  ceded  to  that  State,  by  an  act  of  Con- 
gress and  the  consent  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  under  certain  stipu- 
lations, viz:  "that  the  canal  should  be  commenced  and  completed 
according  to  the  original  grant ;  and  that  it  should  be  sixty  feet 
Avide  on  the  surface  of  the  wutor,  and  five  feet  deep,  instead  of 
forty  feet  wide,  and  four  deep."  To  adjust  this,  Hon.  Jeremiah 
Sullivan,  during  1829,  was  commissioned  to  adjust  and  settle  thia 
znatter. 

"In  the  winter  of  1826  and  1827,  a  Board  of  Canal  Commission- 
ers was  created,  whose  duty  it  was  to  examine  into  the  practicabil- 
ity of  a  canal  route  across  from  the  Maumee  to  the  Wabash,  and  of 
obtaining  a  supply  of  water  therefor,  from  the  St.  Joseph,  St.  Mary's, 
Maumee,  or  Wabash,  or  all  of  them ;  for  which  purpose  $500 
were  appropriated,  and  Samuel  Hanna,  of  Fort  Wayne,  David  Burr, 
of  Jackson  county,  and  Robert  John,  of  Franklin  county,  were 
elected  Commissioners.  It  was  very  difficult  to  get  this  Board  to- 
gether, but  finally  it  was  convened  by  Governor  Ray,  on  the  14th 
of  July,  1828,  at  Indianapolis,  and  there  received  from  him,  plats, 
maps,  surveys,  profiles,  notes  &c.,  of  a  report  made  by  a  corps  of 
Government  Engineers,  under  instructions  of  the  Engineer's  De- 
partment, from  the  mouth  of  Little  river, — at  which  point  a  prior 
survey  had  been  suspended  in  1826 — thence  down  the  Wabash,  and 
from  the  summit  at  Fort  Wayne  down  the  Maumee  river.  This  Board 
of  Commissioners  met  at  Fort  Wayne  in  the  summer  of  that  year, 
(rS2S,)and  being  without  a  level  or  any  instrument  to  work  with,  and 
having  no  engineer,  and  the  $500  of  appropriation  being  inauili- 


304  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

cient  for  any  practical  purpose,  Judge  Hanna  agreed  to  procure 
the  instruments}  and  was  thereupon  dispatched  to  Detroit,  which 
place  he  reached,  on  horse,  in  two  days,  then  proceeding  to  N.  York, 
procured  the  instruments,  and  returned  in  an  extraordinary  quick 
time  for  that  day.  The  Board  then  proceeded,  by  the  aid  of  John 
Smyth,  of  Miamisburgh,  Ohio,  (an  engineer)  early  in  September, 
to  gauge  the  St.  Joseph,  St.  Mary's,  and  Wabash,  at  the  forks. 
During  these  observations,  Smyth  was  taken  sick,  and  left  the  Board 
(none  of  whom  were  engineers,)  to  carry  on  the  work  as  best  as 
they  could.  From  the  10th  to  the  23d  of  September,  they  spent 
the  time  in  examining  the  St.  Joseph  river,  and  the  adjacent  coun- 
try, for  the  purpose  of  locating  the  Feeder  for  the  canal,  and  final- 
ly succeeded  in  locating  the  darn  and  Feeder-line  to  the  summits, 
making  their  own  estimates  of  this,  and  adopting  the  estimates, 
&c.,  of  Colonel  Moore,  under  whose  directions  former  surveys  had 
been  made,  down  the  Wabash  and  Maumee  rivers  ;  which,  in  the 
meantime,  had  been  received  from  the  War  Department,  enab- 
ling the  Commissioners,  after  the  most  diligent  work,  night  and  day, 
to  present  a  report  of  their  labor  on  the  26th  of  December,  later 
than  was  intended  by  law  creating  the  commission.  So  exhausted 
was  Colonel  Burr,  by  constant  fatigue,  in  caluclation,  &c.,  that  for 
a  time  his  mental  powers  were  overcome,  and  hence  it  devolved 
on  Juge  Hanna  to  report ;  as  he  did — a  report  replete  with  liberal 
suggestions,  and  sound  sense.  This  report  was  concurred  in,  and 
from  that  day  went  on  a  work  which  has  proved  so  great  a  benefit 
to  Indiana.  In  this  capacity  Judge  Hanna  served  three  years. 
The  canal  lands  were  located  by  commissioners,  under  act  of  Jan- 
uary 25th,  1829,  and  platted,  and  a  sale  opened  at  Logansport,  af- 
ter some  delay,  in  October,  1830,  and  an  office  opened  in  the  first 
week  of  October,  1832,  at  Fort  Wayne."* 

The  sale  at  Logansport  was  attended  by  a  large  number  of  per- 
sons, and  much  land  was  then  sold  in  Cass  and  adjacent  counties, 
which  resulted  in  the  attraction  of  quite  an  influx  of  emigrants  to 
that  section  and  contiguous  parts  of  the  State.  "  But,"  says  C. 
B.  Lasselle,  Esq.,  "  owing  to  the  length  of  credit  given  on  the  pur- 
chase, availed  but  little  in  affording  means  for  the  prosecution  of 
the  construction  of  the  canal.  It  was,  therefore,  found  necessary 
to  appeal  to  the  means  of  the  State.  Accordingly  a  bill  was  in- 
troduced in  the  Legislature  during  the  sessions  of  1831-2,  for  ef- 
fecting a  loan  upon  the  faith  of  the  State,  predicated  upon  the  mon- 
eys arising  from  the  sales,  with  interest  thereon,  together  with  the 
tolls  and  water  rents  of  the  canal.  The  bill  met  with  fierce  oppo- 
sition upon  the  part  of  many  prominent  men  in  the  Legislature  j 
but  it  finally  passed.  Its  success  was  duly  celebrated  by  the  citi- 
zens of  Logansport." 

The  "  Cass  County  Times,"  of  March  2d,  1832,  gave  the  follow- 
ing interesting  account  of  the  meeting  of  the  commissioners,  and 
commencement  of  the  work  on  the  canal  at  Fort  Wayne  : 

*  "  Fort,  Wnynb  TinWB,"  Etecember  iGfch,  JffiJS. 


CANAL  CELEBRATION  OF  1832.  30i 

"  The  Commissioners  of  the  Wabash  and  Erie  canal  met  at  Fort 
Wayne  on  the  22d  ult,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect  the 
requisition  of  the  late  law  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  provid- 
ing for  the  commencement  of  said  work,  prior  to  the  2d  day  of 
March,  1832,  whereupon  the  Commissioners  appointed  the  anni- 
versary of  the  birth  of  the  Father  of  his  country  as  the  day  on 
which  the  first  excavation  should  be  made  on  said  canal,  and  by  an 
order  of  the  Board,  J.  Vigus,  Esq.,  was  authorized  to  procure  the 
necessary  tools  and  assistance,  and  repair  to  the  most  convenient 
point  on  the  St.  Joseph  Feeder-line,  at  2  o'clock,  on  said  day,  for 
the  purpose  aforesaid. 

"The  intention  of  the  Commissioners  having  been  made  known, 
a  large  number  of  citizens  of  the  town  of  Fort  Wayne  and  its  vi- 
cinity, together  with  a  number  of  gentlemen  from  the  valley  of  the 
Wabash,  convened  at  the  Masonic  Hall,  for  the  purpose  of  making 
arrangements  for  the  celebration  of  this  important  undertaking ; 
whereupon  Henry  Eudisill,  Esq.,  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  David 
H.  Colerick  appointed  secretary.  * 

"The  procession,  having  been  formed  agreeably  to  order,  proceed- 
ed across  the  St.  Mary's  river,  to  the  point  selected,  when  a  circle 
was  formed,  in  which  the  Commissioners  and  Orator  took  their 
stand.  Charles  W.  Ewing,  Esq.,  then  rose,  and  in  his  usual  happy, 
eloquent  manner,  delivered  an  appropriate  address,  which  was  re- 
ceived with  acclamation.  J.  Vigus,  Esq.,  one  of  the  Canal  Com- 
missioners, and  the  only  one  present,  addressed  the  company;  ex- 
plained the  reason  why  his  colleagues  were  absent — adverted  to 
the  difficulties  and  embarrassments  which  the  friends  of  the  canal 
had  encountered  and  overcome;  noticed  the  importance  of  the  work, 
and  the  advantages  which  would  ultimately  be  realized ;  and  then 
concluded  by  saying,  '  I  am  now  about  to  commence  the  Wabash 
and  Erie  canal  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  State  of 
Indiana?  Having  thus  said,  he  '  struck  the  long  suspended  blow  ' 
— broke  ground — while  the  company  hailed  the  event  with  three 
cheers.  Judge  Hanna  and  Capt.  Murray,  two  of  the  able  and  con- 
sistent advocates  of  the  canal,  in  the  councils  of  the  State,  next  ap- 
proached and  excavated  the  earth ;  and  then  commenced  an  indis- 
criminate digging  and  cutting.  The  procession  then  marched  back 
to  town  in  the  manner  it  went  forth,  and  dispersed  in  good  order." 

Hon.  Oliver  H.  Smith,  at  the  period  in  question,  a  resident  of 
Connersville,  Ind.,in  1820,  was  elected  a  representative  to  Congress, 
and  took  his  seat  at  the  session  of  1827.  His  opponent  was  Hon. 
John  Test.  Allen  County  then  gave  Mr.  Smith  but  ten  votes.  In 
his  "  Early  Indiana  Trials,"  Mr.  Smith  presents  the  following  inter- 
esting account  of  a  trip  to  Fort  Wayne,  in  company  with  Judge 
Eggleston  and  James  Rariden,  in  1825: 

Tlic  fall  term  of  the  Circuit  Courts,  1825,  found  Judge  Egglesion  find  myself  wel! 
mounted,  once  more  on  the  Circuit.  The  Judge  upon  his  pacing  Indian  pony:  the 
sains  th*t  I  afterwards  ro  le  through  an  electioneering  Congressional  campaign  ;  I 

(20) 


30C  HISTORY  OF  FOBT  WAYNE. 

then  rode  my  gray  "  fox.''  We  were  joined  at  Centerville  by  James  Rariden, 
ed  on  "Old  Gray,"  one  of  the  finest  animals  I  have  ever  seen.  Our  Court  was  to 
be  held  on  the  next  Monday  at  Fort  Wayne.  We  reached  Winchester  late  in  the 
evening  and  took  lodgings  at  the  hotel  of  Paul  W.  Way,  but  no  newspaper  heralded 
the  arrival.  How  different  was  the  circumstance  that  occurred  when  I  was  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  Silas  Wright,  Thomas  II.  Benton  and  James  Buchan- 
an, for  recreation,  ran  up  to  Philadelphia;  the  next  day  the  Pensylvanian  an- 
iiounced  that  Senators  Benton  and  Buchanan  had  arrived  in  that  city,  and  taken 
lodgings  at  the  United  States  Hotel.  A  few  days  after  the  three  distinguished  Sena- 
tors were  in  their  seats.  I  sat  at  the  time  in  the  next  seat  to  Gov.  Silas  Wright ; 
turning  to  the  Gov.,  "I  see  by  the  papers  that  Mr.  Benton  and  Mr.  Buchanan  have  been 
in  Philadelphia  and  taken  lodgings  at  the  United  States  Hotel ;  Low  did  it  happen 
that  your  name  was  not  announced,  as  you  were  with  them  ?  "  '•  I  did  not  send  my 
name  to  the  printer."  So  it  was  with  us. 

After  early  breakfast  we  were  once  more  upon  our  horses,  with  one  hundred  miles 
through  the  wilderness  before  us.  There  were  two  Indian  paths  that  led  to  Fort 
Wayne,  the  one  by  Chief  Francis  Godfrey's  on  the  Salamonia  river,  the  other  in  a 
more  easterly  direction,  crossing  the  Mississenewa  higher  up  and  striking  the 
•'  Quaker  Trace,"  from  Richmond  to  Fort  Wayne,  south  of  the  head -waters  of  the 
Wubaah  river.  After  a  moment's  consultation,  Mr.  Rariden,  who  was  our  guide, 
turned  the  head  of  "  Old  Gray  "  to  the  eastern  path,  and  off  we  started,  at  a  brisk 
traveling  gait,  in  high  spirits.  The  day  passed  away  ;  it  was  very  hot,  and  there 
was  UD  water  to  be  had  for  ourselves  or  horses.  About  one  o'clock  we  came  to  the 
W  abash  river,  nearly  dried  up,  but  there  was  grass  upon  the  bank  for  our  horses, 
and  we  dismounted,  took  off  the  saddles,  blankets  and  saddle-bags,  when  the  ques- 
tion arose,  should  we  hold  the  horses  while  they  grazed,  tie  them  to  bushes,  spancel 
them,  or  turn  them  loose  ?  We  agreed  that  the  latter  was  the  best  for  the  horses  and 
easiest  for  us,  but  I  raised  the  question  of  safety,  rtnd  brought  up  the  old  adage, 
"  Safe  bind  safe  find."  Mr.  llariden. — "You  could  not  drive  Old  Gray  away  from 
me."  Judge  Eggleston. — "My  Indian  pony  will  never  leave  me."  I  made  no  prom- 
ise for  my  "Grey  Fox."  The  bridles  were  taken  off,  and  the  horses  turned  loose  to 
graze.  A  moment  after,  Old  Gray  stuck  up  his  head,  turned  to  the  path  we  had 
just  come,  and  bounded  off  at  a  full  gallop  swarming  with  flies,  followed  by  the 
pacing  Indian  pony  of  the  Judge,  at  his  highest  speed.  Fox  lingered  behind,  but, 
poon  became  infected  with  the  bad  example  of  his  associates,  and  away  they  sill 
went,  leavingus  sitting  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  that  stood  for  years  afterwards  on 
the  bank  of  the  Wabash.  Our  horses  were,  a  week  afterwards,  taken  up  at  Fort  Defi- 
ance, in  Ohio,  and  brought  to  us  at  Winchester  on  our  return.  It  took  us  but  a 
moment  to  decide  what  to  do.  Ten  miles  would  take  us  up  to  Thompson's  on  Town- 
send's  Prairie.  Our  saddles  and  blankets  were  hung  up  above  the  reach  of  the 
wolves.  Each  took  his  saddle-bags  upon  his  back,  and  we  started  nt  a  quick  step — 
Uariden  in  the  lead,  Judge  Eggleston  in  the  centre,  and  I  brought  up  the  rear. 
The  heat  was  intense.  None  of  us  had  been  much  used  to  walking.  I  ara  satisfied 
we  must  all  have  broken  down,  but  most  fortunately  there  had  fallen  the  night  before 
a  light  rain,  and  the  water  lay  in  the  shade  in  the  horse  tracks.  We  were  soon  on 
our  kaees,  with  our  mouths  to  the  water, — Tell  me  not  of  your  Crot.on,  ye  New 
Yorkers,  nor  of  your  Pairmount,  ye  Philadelphians,  here  was  water,  "  what  ivas 
water."  Near  night  we  reached  the  prairie  worn  down  with  heat  and  fatigue.  The 
thunders  were  roaring  and  the  lightnings  flashing  from  the  black  clouds  in  the  west. 
A  storm  was  coming  up  on  the  wings  of  a  hurricane,  and  ten  hiimites  after  we  ar- 
rived at  Mr.  Thompson's  it  broke  upon  us  in  all  its  fury,  and  continued  raining  in 
torrents  during  the  night.  We  were  in  a  low,  one  story  log  cabin,  about  twenty 
feet  square,  no  floor  above,  with  a  clapboard  roof.  Supper,  to  us  dinner,  was  soon 
ready.  Three  articles  of  diet  only  on  the  plain  walnut  table,  corn-dodgers,  boiled 
squirrels,  and  sassafras  tea. — Epicures  at  the  5  o'clock  table  of  the  Astor,  St. 
Nicholas,  Metropolitan  and  Revere,  how  do  you  like  the  bill  of  fare  ?  To  us  it  was 
sumptuoas  and  thankfully  received.  Supper  over,  we  soon  turned  in,  and  such  n, 
night  of  sweet  sleep  I  never  had  before  or  since.  The  next  morning  our  saddles 
,<,r,  4  blankets  were  brought  to  us  from  the  W  abash.  The  landlord  provided  us  with 
«oriies  and  wo  get  forward  at  full  speed,  arrived  at  Fort  Wayne  that  night,  and  took 
jodgings  attho  hotpl  of  Williara  N.  Ifood.  In  the  morning  court  met,  Judge  Eggle- 
tftOft?  President,  and  eklc  judges,  Thompson  and  Cushinan  on  the  bench.  Fort 


CASE  OF  CIRCUMSTANTIAL  EVIDENCE  307 

Wayne  contained  about  two  hundred  inhabitants,  and  theCounty  of  Allen  some  fifty 
voters.  There  were  no  cases  on  docket  to  try  of  a  criminal  character.  Court  adjourned 
fairly,  and  we  all  went  up  the  St.  Mary's  river,  to  Chief  Richardville's  to  see  an 
Indian  horse  race. 

The  nags  were  brought  to  the  ground,  a  gray  pony,  about  twelve  hands  high,  and 
a  roan,  rather  larger,  like  Eclipse  and  Henry,  to  contest  the  superiority  of  stock 
between  the  bands  of  Miamies  and  Pottawattamies.  Sii  Indians  were  selected  as 
judges — two  placed  at  the  starting  point,  two  at  the  quarter  stake,  and  two  at  the 
coming-out  place.  "Riders  up — clear  the  track,"  and  away  they  went  und«r  whip 
and  spur.  The  race  over,  the  judges  meet,  the  spokesman,  a  large  Miami,  says 
"  Race  even>  Miami  grey  take  first  quarter,  Pottawattamie  roan  take  last  quarter," 
and  all  are  satisfied.  In  the  evening  the  grand-jury  brought  in  a  bill  against  Elisha 
E.  Harris  far  stealing  an  Indian  pony.  Judge  Eggleston. — "Any  more  business 
before  you,  Mr.  Foreman  ?  "  Gen.  Tipton.— "None  sir."  "You  are  discharged." 

JUDGE  EGGLESTON. — "  There  is  but  one  case  on  the  docket  for  trial,  an  appeal  case, 
damages  claimed  five  dollars.  I  feel  quite  tired,  and  willbe  obliged  to  my  associated 
to  try  the  case."  Judge  Cushman. — "Certainly."  The  case  was  called.  Henry 
Cooper  for  the  plaintiff,  and  Hiram  Brown  for  the  defendant.  Case  submitted  to  the 
Court.  The  action  was  for  damages,  five  dollars  claimed,  for  killing  the  plaintiff's 
dog.  The  witness  swore  that  he  saw  the  defendant  running  with  his  rifle  across  his 
yard  ;  saw  him  lay  it  on  the  fence ;  saw  the  smoke ;  heard  the  crack ;  saw  the  dog 
full ;  went  to  where  the  dog  lay,  and  saw  the  bullet-hole  just  behind  the  fore  leg. 
Here  Cooper  rested  with  a  triumphant  air,  and  indeed,  to  a  common  eye,  the  case 
ficemed  beyond  hope,  but  to  the  mind  of  the  skillful  advocate,  capable  of  drawing  the 
distinction  between  positive  and  circumstantial  evidence,  a  different  conclusion  was 
come  to. — Breckenridge's  Miscellanies,  and  Phillip's  Evidence,  stating  the  danger 
of  listening  to  circumstantial  evidence,  and  enumerating  many  lamentable  cases  of 
nonvietions  and  executions  formurder  upon  circumstantial  evidence,  when  the  con- 
victs were  afterwards  proved  to  be  entirely  innocent,  had  been  widely  circulated 
and  extensively  read  by  courts  and  lawyers  until  the  tendency  of  the  courts  was  to 
reject  circuinsUni,j*J  evidence.  My  friend,  Mr.  Brown,  an  ingenious  attorney,  of 
line  talents,  and,  by  the  way,  rather  waggish,  said:  "A  single  question,  Mr.  Wit- 
ness— Can  you  swear  you  saw  the  bullet  hit  the  dog ! "  "I  can  swear  no  such  thing." 
<•  That's  all,  Mr.  Cooper ;  a  case  of  mere  eircurastantial  evidence,  your  Honors." 
Coopers  countenance  fell ;  defeat  stared  him  in  the  face ;  the  case  was  submitted  to 
the  Court  without  further  evidence.  Judge  Cushman. — "This  is  a  plain  case  of 
circumstantial  evidence.  Judgment  for  the  defendant."  Cooper,  with  great  indigna- 
tion, with  his  eye  upon  Brown  : — "When  I  die  I  wish  it  engraved  upon  my  tombstone, 
here  lies  Henry  Cooper-— an  honest  man."  Brown,  rising  as  quick  as  thought  :  — 
"  Pope  says  an  honest  man  is  the  noblest  work  of  God.  There  have  been  Atheists 
in  this  world — Bolingbroke  of  England,  Voltaire  of  France,  andTom  Paine  of  Ameri- 
ca, with  a  host,  of  other  infidel  writers  who  may  be  named :  they  have  all  done  noth- 
ing :i gainst  the  Almighty.  But  let  Henry  Cooper  be  held  up  in  the  mid  heavens,  by 
nn  angel,  for  the  whole  race  of  man  to  look  upon;  and  let  Gabriel,  with  his  trumpet, 
announce  to  gazing  worlds,  this  is  God's  noblest  work,  and  all  the  human  race  would 
l)3come  Atheist  3  in  a  day."  We  returned  to  Winchester  on  our  borrowed  ponies,  took 
our  horses  that  had  been  brought  from  Defiance,  and  reached  the  Wayne  Circuit 
Court  in  good  time. 

At  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Smith's  term,  in  1828,  Hon.  John  Test, 
then  of  Brookville,  Ind.,  was  elected  from  the  same  district,  for  the 
term  of  1229-30,  and  was  succeeded  by  Jonathan  McCarty,*  of  Fort 
Wayne  ;  the  latter  taking  his  seat  in  1831. 

Mr.  Worth,  of  Randplph  county,  was  elected  State  Senator,  and 
Anthony  L.  Davis,  of  Allen,  Representative,  in  1829,  during  which 
year  the  counties  of  Allen,  Randolph  and  Delaware,  including  also 
the  territory  north  thereof,  was  formed  into  a  senatorial  district ; 
while  Allen,  Cass,  Randolph,  and  Delaware,  were  organized  into  a 


*Mr 
at  which 


>.  McCarty  had  previously  been  receiver  of  public  money  at  the  land  office  here, 
icU  time  Captain  Robert  Brackenridge  was  ivgistcr  in.  said  office, 


308  HISTORY  OP  FORT  WAYNE. 

Representative  District.  In  1830,*  Mr.  Worth  was  again  elected 
a  Senator,  and  Joseph  Hoi  man  chosen  a  Representative  from  the 
foregoing  district,  at  which  session.  Allen,  Randolph,  St.  Joseph, 
Elkhart  and  Delaware  were  formed  into  a  senatorial  district,  from 
which,  in  the  following  year,  (l831,t)  Mr.  Worth  was  again  elected 
State  Senator,  and  Samuel  Hanna,  irom  the  district  at  this  time 
formed  out  of  Allen,  Elkhart  and  St.  Joseph,  was  chosen  a  Repre- 
sentative. The  following  year,  (1832,)  Samuel  Hanna,  of  Allen 
county,  was  selected  State  (Senator,  and  George  Crawford,  of  Elk- 
hart,  Representative.  The  following  year,  Mr.  Hanna  was  re-elec- 
ted Senator,  and -David  H.  Colerick,  Esq.,  chosen  Representative. 

The  "  Board  of  Justices  "  having,  in  1829,  been  changed  to  that 
of  "  County  Board  of  Commissioners,"  consisting  of  James  Hoi- 
man,  Wm.  Caswell,  and  N.  Coleman,  on  the  29th  of  September  of 
this  year,  it  having  been  previously  presented  that  two-thirds  of  the 
citizens  of  Fort  Wayne  were  in  favor  ot  incorporating  the  place, 
the  County  Commissioners  ordered  an  election  of  Trustees,  the 
following  gentlemen  being  chosen  therefor :  John  S.  Archer,  W. 
G.  Ewing,  Hugh  Hanna,  Dr.  L.  G.  Thompson  and  John  P.  Hedges. 
In  the  month  of  November  following,  the  iirst  meeting  of  this 
Board  took  place. 

By  an  act  of  Congress  of  May  31st,  1830,  the  associate  judges  of 
Allen  county  were  authorized  to  enter  some  twenty  acres  of  land 
off  the  west  side  of  the  fort  reserve,  at  81.25  per  -ttere,  which  was 
complied  with  and  patented  to  them  March  31st,  1831.  Having 
previously  been  transferred  to  the  agent,  and  for  the  use  of  Allen 
county,  by  order  of  the  County  Board,  these  twenty  acres  were  laid 
off,  platted,  and  filed  Nov.  3d,  1830,  and  designated  "  County  Addi- 
tion." 

The  remains  of  the  fort  reservation,  by  an  act  of  Congress,  was 
set  apart  for  the  benefit  of  the  canal,  and,  with  other  public  lands, 
at  Logansport,  Ind.,  was  subsequently  offered  at  public  auction,  and 
purchased  by  Cyrus  Taber,  who,  April  15th,  1835,  portioned  it  off 
into  forty  lots,  which  have  since  been  known  as  "  Taber's  Addition." 

*At  this  period  there  were  but  252  males,  over  21  years  of  age,  in  Allen  county. 

t  The  winter  of  this  year,  (1831,)  was  a  most  remarkable  one.  As  early  as  the  latter 
part  of  November,  snow  begun  to  fall,  and  continued  to  lie  upon  the  ground  until  the 
middle  of  March  following  ;  and  the  settlers,  during  this  long  season  of  snow,  with 
their  roughly-constructed  pole  "jumpers,"  together  with  frolicking  upon  the  ice  of  the 
adjacent  streams,  sought  to,  and  did  enjoy  themselves  most  freely  and  happily.  So  in- 
tense, much  of  the  time,  was  the  cold  and  great  the  depth  of  the  snow  during  this 
long  winter,  that— though  the  settlers  suffered  but  little  from  lack  of  food,  and  the  gen- 
eral nece.-saries  of  life-— the  animals  of  th«-  forest  were  brought  to  the  greatest  hunger ; 
and  the  wolves,  of  which  there  were  still  vast  numbejp  throughout  the  northwest,  and 
winch  only  disappeared  from  the  country,  as  the  red^rnan  receded— were  brought  to 
such  a  sUte  of  hunger,  that  their  fierce  bowlings  were  nightly  heard  by  the  citizens 
of  the  {jlace  ;  and  i'u  was  long  unsafe  tor  the  settlers  to  venture  far  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  town.  The  Indians  also  suffered  greatly  this  winter  for  food,  and  several  of  them 
were  killed  and  eaten  by  the  wolves.  So  reduced  were  the  Indians,  in  some  instances, 
thattii«y  actually  ate  dead  carrions  that  had  lain  upon  the  ground  lor  months.  What 
was  most  peculiar  with  the  wolves,  during  this  long  winter,  which  exhibited  largely 
1,11^  native  instinct  of  this  animal,  they  would  never  make  a  direct  attack  upon  man  or 
beast,  unless  their  numbers  were  sufficient  to  insure  their  success. 


SUCCESSION  OF  JUDGES.  309 

Previous  to  1825,  the  associate  judges  of  the  different  counties 
in  the  State  also  exercised  probate  jurisdiction,  the  clerk  thereof 
acting  also  as  clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  while  the  sheriff  acted  for 
both. 

It  was  in  this  year,  (1S25,)  November  14th,  that  the  organization 
of  the  first  Court  for  Probate  purposes  occurred,  which  met  at  tho 
Old  Washington  Hall,  and  was  presided  over  by  Samuel  Ilaiiua 
and  Benjamin  Cushman. 

On  the  23d  of  May,  (1825,)  in  a  small  book,  some  six  inches 
spuare,  the  first  entry  of  letters  of  administration  was  made. 

The  next  term  of  this  court,  February  12th,  1826,  was  opened  at 
the  residence  of  Alexander  Ewing,  and  closed  at  that  of  VVm  Sut- 
ten field.  The  third  term,  August  13th,  1826,  was  presided  over  by 
Judg;e  Hanna  and  W.  N.  Hood,  A.  L.  Davis,  Esq.,  actins-  as  clerk. 
At  the  term  of  1828,  May  5th,  Samuel  Hanna,  executor  of  A.  Bur- 
nett, received  the  first  order  for  the  sale  of  land  made  to  him.  This 
sale  consisted  of  two  sections  reserved  to  Burnett  at  the  Indian  trea- 
ty of  1826 — one  lying  at  Winnemac  prairie,  on  the  northwest  side  of 
the  Wabash,  and  the  other  just  opposite  the  mouth  of  Deep  Creek, 
or  what  is  now  Delphi,  in  Carroll  county,  Ind.  At  the  next  term, 
Nov.  1828,  "  letters  of  administration  "  were  issued  to  Joseph  Hoi- 
man,  upon  the  estate  of  the  then  late  principal  war  chief  of  the 
Miamtes,  known  as  La  Gross,*  who  had  previously  been  poisoned 
and  died  at  the  fort  hero,  near  which  he  was  buried.  La  Gross  had 
exercise:!  a  very  conspicious  part  among  the  Indians  here  as  ear- 
ly as  17y4,  and  was  esteemed  as  a  very  good  man. 

At  the  next  term  of  the  Probate  Court,  May  3d,  1830,  W.  G.  Ew- 
ing presided  as  Judge,  havinp  previously  been  commissioned  to 
serve  in  this  capacity  for  seven  yeirs,  from  September  10th,  1S29, 
the  duties  of  which  office  he  is  said  to  have  discharged  with  marked 
ability,  till  1833,  when  he  resigned  in  favor  of  Hugh  B. 
McCulloch,  who  became  his  successor,  also  to  hold  the  office  for 
seven  years,  from  June  7th,  1834  ;  but  Mr.  McCuIlorh  resigned  the 
position  after  one  session,  in  1835,  to  take  charge  of  the  Branch  of 
the  State  Bank  of  Indiana;  after  which,  Governor.  Noble  appointed 
Thomas  Johnson  to  fill  the  vacancy  of  Mr.  McCulloch.  Mr.  John- 
son presided  as  Probate  Judge  until  August,  1836,  when,  by  gener- 
al election,  Lurien  P.  Ferry  f  was  commissioned  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  the  office  for  seven  years,  from  5th  of  October,  1836,  but, 
having  resigned,  he  was  superseded,  February  10th,  1840,  by 

*  It  was  nfter  this  chief  that  the  town  of  La  Gross,  in  Wabash  county,  in  this  State, 
was  named. 

t  During  September,  1843,  Mr.  Ferrv,  accompanied  by  Thomas  Johnson,  r'sq.,  said 
to  have  been  a  very  estimable  man  ancl  a  good  citizen,  returning  late  one  evenii'ir, 
from  Bluffton,  Wells  county,  in  this  State,  whither  they  had  been  on  court .  businc.-s. 
t  he  night  overtook  them,  and  a  h?avy  ryin  coming  up,  they  mistiok  their  way,  and  go; 
very  wet,  from  the  effects  of  which  Mr.  Johnson  died  two  days  afi'.T  Mv.  FVrrv,  who 
also  bore  the  reputation  of  a  most  intelli^nt  and  worthy  citizen,  died  in  August  of  tlx- 
f  ollowing  year,  1844,  at  the  age  of  thirty-throe.  Judge  George  Johnson,  esteemed  aa  a 


310  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

Reuben  J.  Dawson.  Mr.  Dawson  continued  but  a  few  months,  and 
was  followed  by  Samuel  Stophlet,  November  9th,  1840,  who  held 
the  position  till  1844,  when,  resigning,  he  was  followed  by  George 
Johnson,  appointed  by  Governor  Whitcomb,  who  held  the  position 
till  the  period  of  election,  in  August,  1844,  when  he  was  elected 
to  the  office,  and  held  the  judgeship  till  1847,  when  he  resigned, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Nelson  McLain,  April  12th,  1847,  who  was 
appointed  to  this  position,  but  in  the  following  August  was  elected 
to  the  office,  and  held  the  position  until  this  court  was  abolished 
by  provisions  of  the  new  constitution  of  1853,  when  Hon.  James 
W.  Borden  was  elected  Judge  of  what  is  now  the  District  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  embracing  Allen,  Adams,  Wells  and  Hunting-ton 
counties,  with  probate  jurisdiction,  whose  first  term  began  Novem- 
ber 3d,  1853.  Since  this  period,  the  Courts  have  undergone  no 
special  change.  In  the  early  part  of  1867,  a  Criminal  Court  was 
created  here,  to  preside  over  which,  in  the  month  of  April,  of  this 
year,  Governor  Baker  appointed  Hon.  James  H.  Fay,  Judge,  R. 
S.  Taylor,  Prosecuting  Attorney ;  and  in  the  month  of  October 
following,  by  election,  Hon.  J.  W.  Borden  assumed  the  judgeship 
of  this  court. 

Of  marriage  records,  previous  to  October,  1834,  there  had  been 
no  record  of  marriage  licenses  presented  here,  nor  any  return  made 
of  the  solemnization  thereof  in  the  county  of  Allen.  Up  to  1824, 
while  what  is  now  Allen  county  still  formed  a  part  of  Randolph,  all 
such  licenses  had  to  be  procured  at  the  Clerk's  office  in  Win- 
chester, the  county-seat  of  Randolph. 

The  first  record  of  marriage  here,  occurring  in  1834,  was  that 
of  George  Withmer  to  Eleanor  Troutner.  For  some  years  prior  to 
the  issue  of  this  first  license  here,  it  was  a  custom  for  officers  of 
the  army  to  solemnize  marriage  without  license ;  some  were  also 
married  upon  license  issued  from  the  Clerk's  office  in  Miami  coun- 
ty, Ohio;  while  others  were  procured  at  Vincennes,  in  Knox 
county,  Indiana  ;  and  many  came  together  and  lived  very  agree- 
able without  any  license  at  all. 

most  worthy  and  intelligent  young  man,  while  attending  a'course  of  theological  studies 
at  Gambier  Ohio,  in  December,  1850,  lost  his  life  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  a  guu. 


:MK  t 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Still  moving  forward — onward  e"ver  ! 

The  four  first  acte  already  past, 

The  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day  ; 
Time's  noblest  offspring  is  her  last." 


The  first  court-house — Treasurer's,  Auditor's,  Clerk's,  and  Recorder's  offices — The  old 
]ail — The  present  court-house — Post  office  and  post-masters — Mails — The  old  pond 
' — Shawanoe  run — An  incident — Sketch  of  Chief  Richard ville — The  old  sand-hill 
— Exhumation  of  Indian  bones  and  relics — Steady  improvement  of  the  place — 
Population  at  different  periods — Recollections  of  an  early  resident — Commanding 
position  of  the  place — Roads — Buildings — General  business — Manufacturing  inter- 
ests— The  World's  future  great  commercial  city — Railroad  interests — Arrival  of 
the  first  locomotive — First  printing  office — Names  and  number  of  papers  now 
published  in  Fort  Wayne — Churches  and  educational  relations — The  Future. 


j?fHE  FIRST  edifice  erected  for  court  and  general  public  pur- 

Bj)poses,was  a  two-story  brick  building,  built  by  S.  Edsall,  in  1847. 
This  edifice  stood  upon  the  site  of  the  present  substantial 
court  building.  The  original  court  building  was  of  slender 
build, and  after  a  few  years  use,  it  became  evident  that  its 
longer  occupancy  would  be  attended  with  danger,  and  a  one-story 
building  was  subsequently  erected  on  the  south-east  corner  of 
court-square,  with  a  side-room  for  jury  and  other  purposes  fronting 
on  Berry  street,  which  was  also  torn  down  a  few  years  after  its 
erection.  At  the  time  of  the  occupancy  and  use  of  tins  build- 
ing, the  Treasurer's  and  Auditor's  offices  were  in  a  small  edifice 
on  the  northeast  corner  of  court-square ;  the  Clerk's  office  on 
the  northwest  corner;  and  the  Recorder's  office  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  same. 

At  the  time  of  the  erection  and  during  the  occupancy  and  use  of 
the  first  court-house,  built  by  Mr.  Edsall,  the  old  county  jail  still 
btood  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the  square.  This  old  building 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1847. 

During  the  period  intervening  between  the  destruction  of  the 
one-story  brick  court-house,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  square, 
and  the  erection  of  the  present  substantial  and  commanding  edifice 


312  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

in  1861,  court  was  held  in  Colerick's  Hall,  on  Columbia  street.  The 
cost  of  the  present  edifice  was  over  $80.000.  Its  corner-stone  was 
laid  with  Masonic  honors,  in  1861,  and  bears  the  following  inscrip- 
tion on  the  northeast  corner  of  the  building : 

"  COKNER  STONE,  laid  with  Masonic  ceremonies,  May  1,  A.  D.  1861, 
A.  L.  5861,  by  Sol.  D.  Bayless,  P.  G.  M.  Michael  Crow,  John 
Shafer,  and  Isaac  Hall,  County  Commissioners.  Contractors  :  S. 
Edsall  and  V.  M.  Kimball.  Designed  by  Edwin  May.  Superin- 
tendent, Samuel  McElfatrick.  Builder,  D.  J.  Silver." 

Its  architecture  is  a  combination  of  Doric,  Corinthian,  etc.  On 
the  north  side  of  the  building  appears  the  figure  of  General  Wayne, 
on  the  west  side,  the  figure  of  Washington,  both  in  colonial  uni- 
form. In  the  general  court-room,  on  either  side  of  the  judge's 
stand,  are  the  figures  of  Columbus  and  the  goddess  of  Liberty,  ia 
fresco. 

As  the  postoffice  is  always  an  institution  of  interest  and  import- 
ance in  every  place,  a  little  account  of  the  establishment  of  postal 
relations  in  Fort  Wayne  will  not  be  out  of  place,  here. 

The  first  post  master  of  the  place,  was  the  late  Judge  Hanria. 
He  kept  the  office  in  his  store,  on  Columbia  street,  near  where  Cole- 
riclrs  Hall  now  stands.  The  next  postmaster  was  Henry  Rudisill, 
father  of  tho  present  County  Auditor,  H.  J.  liudisill,  Esq.,  who 
kept  the  office  in  a  frame  building,  on  the  north  side  of  Columbia 
street,  between  Calhoun  and  Clinton,  near  the  place  now  occupied 
by  Ash  &  McCulloch's  hardware  store.  Mr.  Rudisill  was  followed 
by  Oliver  Fairfield,  (brother  of  Captain  Asa  Fairfield,)  and  Small- 
wood  Noel,  who  kept  the  office  in  the  same  place  till  the  appoint- 
ment of  Wm.  Stewart,  Esq.,  in  1845,  when  Mr.  Stewart  took  it  to 
his  own  lot,  on  Calhoun  street,  where  his  present  building  stands, 
in  place  of  which  was  then  a  frame  building,  about  25  feet  square. 
In  1849,  Samuel  Stophlet,  Esq.,  succeeded  Mr.  Stewart,,  and  took 
the  office  further  down  Calhoun  street,  to  a  frame  building,  near 
where  Kline  &  Marsh's  shoe  store  now  stands,  where  he  kept  it 
till  the  burning  of  the  Phoenix  Block,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street,  when  it  was  removed  to  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  drug 
store  of  Gratigny  &  Bro.,  corner  of  Main  and  Calhoun  streets. 
Jno.  G.  Maier,  Esq.,  followed  Mr.  Stophlet,  in  1853,  and  held  the 
office  during  the  administrations  of  Presidents  Pierce  and  Buchan- 
an, keeping  it  first  on  the  south  side  of  Columbia  near  Clinton,  and 
afterwards  on  Clinton  street,  near  where  the  Mayor's  office  now  is. 
In  1861, M.  Drake,  Esq., the  present  incumbent,  received  tho  appoint- 
ment, still  keeping  the  office  for  a  time  on  Clinton  street;  then 
removing  it  to  .Robinson's  block,  on  Harrison  street,  and  subse- 
quently to  its  present  locality,  on  Court  street,  opposite  the  court- 
house, which  is  considered  one  of  the  best  arranged  post  offices  in. 
the  western  country. 

The  first  regular  mails  began  in  1822-3,  which  were  brought  here 
on  horseback,  from  Maumee  and  Piqua,  Ohio.  Prior  to  that 


THE  OLD  POND — SHAWANOE  RUN — AN  INCIDENT.  313 

period,  the  news  reached  here,  only  through  private  and  special 
messengers.  The  mail  carriers  usually,  had  to  camp  out  one  night 
on  the  road  from  Piqua  and  Maumee,  and  made  the  trips  regularly, 
not  unfrequently  coming-  through,  however,  with  empty  mail  bags. 
The  mail  matter  of  Chicago  often  came  by  way  of  Fort  Wayne, 
and  it  is  remembered,  that,  ibr  one  trip,  it  was  carried  afoot,  by  Mr. 
Bird,  a  farmer,  srill  living  a  few  miles  from  Fort  Wayne.  After 
the  opening  of  canal  navigation,  the  Maumee  mail  was  transferred 
to  the  packets,  other  mails  still  being  carried  by  horses,  and 
subsequently  by  stages,  until  the  completion  of  the  railroad  from 
Pittsburgh  to  this  point ;  and  notwithstanding  the  march  in  rail- 
roads, &c.,  a  few  stage  lines  stili  continue  to  reach  Fort  Wayne 
from  interior  points. 

It  may  here  be  interesting  for  the  reader  to  know  that 
just  east  of  the  court-house,  about  half  a  square,  at  a  former  period 
there  was  to  be  seen  a  large  pond,  extending  from  what  is  now  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Bowser,  on  Berry  street,  past  the  rear  of  Peter 
Kiser's  store,  to  where  now  stands  the  store  rooms  of  Messrs.  Town- 
ley,  DeWald,  Bond  &  Co.,  corner  of  Calhoun  and  Columbia 
streets.  Many  of  the  early  settlers  frequently  caught  fish  out  of 
this  pond.  A  little  brook,  the  remains  of  which  is  still  to  be  seen, 
just  north  of  the  canal,  opposite  the  Robinson  block,  meandered 
to  the  west  of  this  pond,  and  just  north  of  the  court- house,  extending- 
around  the  same  and  running  through  what  is  now  the  alley-way  im- 
mediately west  of  and  opposite  the  court-house,  thence  to  about  the 
rear  of  the  Berry  street  M.  E.  Church,  and  across  Harrison,  thence 
towards  the  St.  Mary's.  At  the  point  about  where  the  Berry 
street  M.  E.  Church  is,  it  was  some  four  or  five  feet  deep,  and  was 
a  favorite  fishing  place.  This  little  stream  was  known  as  "  Shaw- 
anoe  Run,"  so  called  from  an  incident  that  occurred  many  years 
ago  near  its  banks,  at  a  point  about  half-way  between  what 
is  now  Harrison  and  Calhoun  streets,  the  general  surface  of  the 
locality,  at  that  period  being  covered  mainly  with  small  trees, 
hazle-bushes,  etc. ;  and  where  the  Indians  were  much  accustomed 
to  idle  about.  On  one  occasion,  a  Shawanoe  was  asked  by  a  Mi- 
amie  to  take  a  drink  at  the  point  referred  to,  to  which  the  former 
readily  assented,  and  as  he  preceded  to  do  so,  the  Miamie  plunged 
a  knife  into  his  breast,  killing  him  on  the  spot.  The  deed  was  a 
barbarous  and  most  treacherous  one,  at  best ;  and  it  was  not  long 
before  the  Shawanoes — quite  a  largo  body  of  whom  then  resided  a 
short  distance  to  the  southeast  of  Fort  Wayne — were  made  acquaint- 
ed  with  the  revengeful  procedure  of  the  Miamie  in  killing  their 
brother ;  and  each  and  all  were  alike  maddened  at  the  event.  The 
spirit  of  the  slain  member  of  their  tribe  was  to  be  revenged  ere  he 
could  be  appeased,  or  presents  sufficient  to  cover  np  the  grave  of  the 
murdered  warrior  were  to  be  proffered  and  accepted,  before  the 
living  members  of  the  clan  could  feel  any  sense  of  foruivi 
towards  the  murderer  and  his  tribe  ;  and  two  days  after  the  event 


314  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE. 

came  a  considerable  body  of  Shawanoes  to  the  place,  all  painted 
and  armed  for  a  bloody  conflict  with  the  opposite  tribe.  And  they 
are  said  to  have  presented  a  most  ferocious  and  determined  appear- 
ance, as  they  halted  upon  a  little  rise  at  what  is  now  the  corner  of 
Washington  and  Clinton  streets. 

The  matter  had  now  become  serious.  The  Shawanoes  had  come 
to  settle  the  affair — to  revenge  the  murder  of  their  brother — and 
the  Miamies  knew  at  once  that  the  case  had  to  be  met.  Nothing 
short  of  "an  eye  for  an  eye,"  or  an  adjustment  of  some  kind, 
would  serve  to  quell  or  reconcile  the  determined  will  of  the  paint- 
ed Shawanoes.  Accordingly,  Chief  Richard  ville,*  of  the  Miamies, 

*  With  the  birth-place  of  this  distinguished  chief,  as  referred  to  on  page  22, 
Chapter  II,  in  connection  with  the  "  old  apple-tree,"  the  reader  is  already  familiar. 
His  father',  Druet  da  Richardville,  was  a  .French  trader  here  for  some  years  before 
and  after  the  fated  expedition  of  La  Balme,  in  1780.  Among  the  many  thrilling 
and  interesting  incidents  and  narrations,  as  frequently  recited  by  the  chief  to  the 
late  Allen  Hamilton,  he  gave,  some  years  ago,  an  account  of  his  ascendency  to  the 
chieftainship  of  his  tribe.  The  occasion  wag  not  only  thrilling  and  heroic,  but,  on 
the  part  of  his  famous  mother  and  himself,  will  ever  stand  in  history  as  one  of 
the  noblest  and1  most  humane  acts  known  to  any  people,  and  would  serve  as  a  theme, 
both  grand  and  eloquent,  for  the  most  gifted  poet  or  dramatist  of  any  land. 

It  was  a  wild,  barbarous  moment,  now  more  than  eighty  years  ago.  Ke-ki-ong-a 
still  occasionally  echoed  with  the  shrieks  and  groans  of  captive  men :  and  the  young 
•warriors  of  the  region  still  rejoiced  in  the  barbaric  custom  of  burning  prisoners  at 
the  stake — a  custom  long  in  vogue  with  the  Indians  here.  A  white  man  had  been 
captured  and  brought  in  by  the  warriors.  A  council  had  been  convened,  in  which 
the  question  of  his  fate  arose  in  debate  and  was  soon  settled.  He  was  to  be  burned 
at  the  stake,  and  the  braves  and  villagers  generally  were  soon  gathered  about  the 
scene  of  torture,  mnkingthevery  air  to  resound  with  their  vociferations  and  triumph- 
ant shouts  of  pleasure  and  gratification  at  the  prospect  of  soon  enjoying  another 
hour  of  fiendish  merriment  at  the  expense  of  a  poor,  miserable  victim  of  torture. 
Already  the  man  was  lashed  to  the  stake,  and  the  torch  that  was  to  ignite  the  cum- 
bustible  material  placed  about  the  same  and  the  victim  of  torture,  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  brave  appointed  to  create  the  flame  that  was  so  soon  to  consume  the  victim 
of  their  cruelty.  But  the  spirit  of  rescue  was  at  hand.  The  man  was  destined  to 
be  saved  from  the  terrible  fate  that  surrounded  him ! 

Young  Richardville  had  for  some  time  been  singled  out  as-  the  future 
chief  of  the  tribe,  and  his  heroic  mother  saw  in  this  a  propitious  and  glorious  mo. 
merit  for  the  assertion  of  his  chieftainship,  by  an  act  of  great  daring  and  bravery, 
in  the  rescue  of  the  prisoner  at  the  stake.  All  eyes  were  now  fixed  upon  the  captive. 
Young  Richardville  and  his  mether  were  some  distance  from  the  general  scene,  but 
eufncientlj'  near  to  fee  the  movements  of  the  actors  in  the  tragedy  about  to  be  enac- 
ted, and  could  plainly  hear  the  coarse  ejaculations  and  mingled  shouts  of  triumph 
of  the  crowd.  At  that  moment,  just  as  the  torch  was  about  to  be  applied  to  the 
bark,  as  if  touched  by  some  angelic  impulse  of  love  and  pity  for  the  poor  captive, 
the  mother  of  young  Richardville  placed  a  knife  in  her  son's  hand,  and  bade  him 
assert  his  chieftainship  by  the  rescue  of  the  prisoner.  The  magnetic  force  of  the 
mother  seemed  instantly  to  have  convulsed  and  inspired  the  young  warrior,  and  he 
quickly  bounded  away  to  the  scene,  broke  through  the  wild  crowd,  cut  the  cords 
that  bound  the  man,  and  bid  him  be  free !  All  was  astonishment  and  surprise;  and 
though  by  no  means  pleased  at  the  loss  of  their  prize,  yet  the  young  man,  their 
favorite,  for  his  heroic  and  daring  conduct,  was  at  once  esteemed  a  god  by  the  crowd, 
nnd  then  and  thereafter  became  a  chief  of  the  first  distinction  and  honor  in  the 
tribe ! 

The  thoughtful  and  heroic  mother  of  Richardville  now  took  the  man  in  charge, 
und  soon  quietly  placing  him  in  a  canoe  and  covering  him  with  hides  and  peltries, 
in  charge  of  some  friendly  Indians,  he  was  soon  gliding  safely  down  the  placid  cur- 
rent of  the  Maumee,  beyond  the  scene  of  the  turbulent  warriors  and  villagers  of 
Ke-ki-ong-a.  The  rescue  was  complete. 


SKETCH  OF  CHIEF  RICIIAKDVILLE.  315 

was  at  once  called  upon  by  the  members  of  his  tribe  to  adjust  and 
reconcile  the  matter,  which  was  only  accomplished  after  a  lengthy 
council  between  the  tribes,  wherein  the  Shawanoes  finally  agreed 
to  a  reconciliation  upon  the  proifer  and  gift  of  several  head  of 
horses,  and  a  quantity  of  trinkets  and  goods  of  various  kinds.  And 
thus  the  matter  ended — and  it  was  out  of  this  incident — fierce  and 

At  a  later  period  in  the  life  of  the  chief,  some  years  subsequent  to  this  event,  be 
ing  on  his  way  to  Washington  City,  he  came  to  a  town  in  Ohio,  where,  stopping  for  a 
little  while,  a  man  came  up  to  him,  and  suddenly  recognizing  in  the  stranger 
the  countenance  of  his  benefactor  and  deliverer  of  years  before,  threw  his  arms 
about  the  chief's  neck,  and  embraced  him  with  all  the  warmth  of  filial  affection  and 
gratitude  !  He  was  indeed  the  rescued  prisoner ;  and  the  meeting  between  the 
chief  and  the  man  was  one  of  mingled  pleasure  and  surprise. 

In  stature,  the  chief  was  about  five  feet  ten  inches,  with  broad  shoulders,  and  weighed 
about  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds.  His  personal  appearance  was  attractive;  grace- 
ful in  carriage  and  manner;  and  bore  all  the  marks  of  a  "  finished  gentleman."  Exempt 
from  any  expression  of  levity— a  simple  child  of  nature— he  is  said  to  have  "preserved 
his  dignity  under  all  circumstances."  His  eyes  were  of  a  lightish  blue,  ana  slightly 
protruding—'"  his  upper  lip  firmly  pressed  upon  his  teeth,  and  the  under  one  slightly 
projecting.  His  nose  was  roman,  *nd  the  whole  contour  of  his  face  was  classic  and  at- 
tractive." 

.  From  the  recollections  of  David  H.  Colerick,  Esq.,  long  intimate  with  the  chief,  and 
who  served  as  his  attorney,  transacting  much  of  his  business  for  many  years  here,  Rich- 
ardville  was  computed  the  wisest  and  most  sagacious  chief  of  all  the  Indians  of  the 
entire  northwest;  and  "was  the  successful  head  and  ruler  of  the  Miamie  tribe  for  more 
than  fifty  years  before  and  to  the  time  of  his  death,"  in  1841. 

His  mother  was  a  most  remarkable  woman.  Her  Indian  name  wns  Tau-cum-wa. 
Chief  llichardville  waaan  only  son,  and  much  beloved  by  her.  Her  reign  as  chiefesa 
of  the  tribe,  continued  for  a  period  of  some  thirty  years,  prior  to  the  war  of  1812, 
during  which  time,  according  to  the  traditions  of  the  Indians,  "she  ruled  the  tribo 
with  a  sway,  power,  and  success  as  woman  never  ruled  before."  After  her  reign,  "slit- 
retired  and  passed  the  mace  of  power  to  her  son,"  John  B.  llichardville,  whose  Indian 
name  was  Pe-she-wa  (or  Wild  Cat,)  by  which  he  was  always  called  by  his  people,  and 
thus  signed  it  at  all  the  treaties  he  attended,  to  transact  business  for  the  tribe  or  tribes 
of  which  he  was  the  representative  or  head.  With  a  mind  somewhat  massive,  a  rather 
close  observer,  and  apt  in  his  business  transactions,  he  was  always  extremely  careful  in 
what  he  undertook.  A  most  patient  listener,  his  reticense  often  almost  assumed  the 
form  of  extreme  indifference;  yet  such  was  far  from  his  nature,  for  lie  ever  exeeised  the 
w'annest  and  most  attentive  regard  for  all  of  his  people  and  mankind  in  general;  and 
"  the  needy  never  called  in  vain---his  kind  and  charitable  hand  was  never  withheld 
from  the  distressed  of  his  own  people  or  from  the  stranger ;  and  he  was  beloved  and 
esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him." 

So  well  and  wisely  did  he  manage  the  affairs  of  his  tribe— with  such  wisdom  and 
moderation  did  he  adjust  and  settle  all  matters  relating  to  his  people — lhat  he  was  not 
only  held  in  the  highest  estimation  by  the  Indians  generally,  throughout  the  northwest, 
but  "  honored  and  trusted  as  their  law-giver  with  the  most  \insuspecting  confidence 
and  implicit  obedience"— always  adjusting  affairs  between  his  own  people,  as  well  as 
all  inter-tribal  relations,  without  resort  to  bloodshed.  A  patient  and  attentive  listener 
---prudent  and  deliberate  in  his  action — when  once  his  conclusions  and  determination 
were  formed,  "  he  rarely  had  occasion  to  change  them."  "Averse  to  bloodshed,  except 
against  armed  resistance,  he  was  ever  the  strong  and  consistent  friend  of  peace  and 
good-will. 

Many  were  the  vivid  recollections  he  gave,  years  ago,  to  early  settlers  here.  At  the 
lime  of  Harmar's  movements  and  defeat  at  this  point,  h«'  was  a  boy  of  some  ten  or 
twelve  years  of  age.  But  his  recollection  of  the  way  the  Indians  stole  along  the  bank 
of  the  river,  near  to  the  point,  long  since  known  as  "  Harmar's  ford,"  wei-e  most  thril- 
ling. Not  a  man  among  the  Indians,  said  he,  was  to  tiro  a  gun  until  the  white  warri- 
ors \inder  Harmar  had  gained  the  stream,  and  were  abottt  to  cross.  Tlu-n  the  red  men 
in  the  bushes,  with  rifles  levelled  and  ready  for  action,  just  as  the  detachment  of  Har 
mar  began  to  near  the  centre  of  the  Maumee,  opened  a  sudden  and  deadly  fire  upon 
them;  and  horses  and  riders  fell  in  the  stream,  one  upon  the  other,  until  the  river  was 
literally  strewn  from  bank  to  bank  with  the  slain,  bolii  horses  and  men;  and  the  water 
ran  dark  with  the  blood  of  the  slain  ! 


316  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

thrilling  to  those    who  remember*  it — that  grew  the  name  of  this 
little  run. 

In  the  extreme  west  end  of  the  city  there  was  formerly  an  exten- 
sive bluff,  perhaps  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  feet  higher  than  any 
other  point  within  the  present  limits  of  Fort  Wayne,  which  covered 
originally  some  two  squares.  It  was,  indeed,  an  immense  sand 
heap.  When,  and  how  long  accumulating,  the  ages  alone  can 
determine.  The  sand  is  of  a  rather  fine  quality,  and  much  of  it 
has  served  well,  doubtless,  for  niortar,  in  building  and  other  pur- 
poses. It  extended  from  Wayne  street,  fronting  and  within  a  few 
yards  of  the  college,  towards  the  river,  a  short  distance  below 
Berry  street,  and  eastward  perhaps  about  a  square ;  somewhat 
sloping  in  its  general  character.  Its  highest  point  was  at  about 
the  present  terminus  of  Berry  street.  Over  this  knoll  there  extend- 
ed but  little  vegetative  life  ;  a  few  indifferent  bushes  here  and  there 
over  it  and  about  its  margin,  formed,  perhaps,  the  principal  part  of 
its  productive  growth,  as  is  usually  the  case  with  sandy  points. 

*  Among  whom  is  D.  H.  Coierick,  Esq.,  from  whose  recollections  this  account  is  given. 

"  There  seemed,  in  the  settling  of  this  section  of  the  countty,"  says,  Mr.  Coierick 
"  a  rivalry  between  the  settlers  and  the  Indians,  as  to  who  should  tender  the  chief  the 
highest  respect,  for  all  ndmired  who  knew  him." 

At  the  treaty  of  St.  Mary's,  in  1818,  a  reserve  of  three  sections  of  land  was  made  to 
him,  principally  located  some  four  or  five  miles  from  Fort  Wayne,  up  the  St.  Mary's 
river,  which,  since  his  death,  have  been  in  the  hands  and  keeping  of  his  descendants, 
"  and  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Archonge,  (daughter  of  La  Blonde,  the  first  daugh- 
ter of  the  chief,)  wife  of  James  11.  Godfri,  whose  inteivsting  family,  with  some  three  or 
four  other  persons,  relatives  of  the  same,  living  near,  now  constitute  the  only  remnants 
of  the  once  powerful  Miamie  tribe  in  this  part  of  their  old  strong  hold,  each  and  all  of 
whom  have  long  since  assumed  the  garb  of  civilization,  and  not  only  cultivate  thearta 
of  peace,  but  live  upon,  and  annually  and  successfully  till  one  of  the  finest  bodies  of 
land  to  be  found  in  the  northwest. 

It  was  an  ancient  custom  with  the  Indians  never  to  council  during  cloudy  weather. 
Open  day,  and  asun-light  unobscured  by  the  frowns  of  lowering  clouds,  were  the  only 
guarantees  of  a  successful  council  among  them.  In  1832,  at  a  treaty  appointed  to  be 
held  at  the  forks  of  the  Wabash---where  it  is  said  the  Government,  through  its  agents, 
not  only  spent  vast  sums  of  money,  but  fed  the  Indians  most  sumptuously  for  some 
days,  (which  latter  was  a  great  source  of  pleasure  and  pride  to  the  r<?d  men  then  and 
there  assembled,  for  they  always  liked  the  white  man's  fare,  and  ate  most 
lavishly  of  it,  whenever  occasion  offers d)---the  principal  agent  of  the  treaty,  through 
his  interpreter,  requested  acoimcil  of  the  tribes  on  a  certain  da\>,and  had  assembled  u 
number  of  the  principal  chiefs  present,  to  make  known  the  desire.  Having  concluded 
his  remarks,  which  were  principally  addressed  to  chief  Richardville.  as  the  main  rep- 
resentative of  the  tribes  present,  the  chief,  in  an  unusually  dignified  and  resolute  man- 
ner, arose  to  respond.  The  red  men,  said  he,  never  council  when  the  great  Spirit 
frowns.  Already  lie  has  shut  his  face  from  view,  and  dark  clouds  are  spread  over  our 
heads.  When  he  shall  smile  again,  and  the  sun  begin  to  alluminethe  earth,  then  will 
we  council 

No  council  was  therefore  convened:  and  the  Indians  are  said  to  have  continued  to 
fare  most  sumptuously,  much  to  their  liking,  for  several  days  longer,  on  the  choice  food 
net  before  them,  at  this  expensive  gathering  of  the  tribes,  under  the  atspices  of  the 
United  States  Government. 

Such  was  the  famous  chief  --such  was  John  B.  Richardville,  (Pe-she-wa.)  for  so  many 
years  the  head  and  ruler  of  the  Miomies  of  this  ever  memorable  and  ancient  strong- 
hold of  Indian  life  in  the  northwest ;  and  to-day,  in  the  Catholic  cemetery,  just  on  the 
confines  of  his  birth-place  and  early  associations,  is  to  be  seen  at  any  time,  by  the  visi- 
tant to  this  city  of  the  dead,  a  neat  and  imposing  marble  shaft,  upon  which  may  be 
clearly  read,  both  when  the  sun  shines  and  the  clouds  lower,  the  name  of  JoH\B.  RICH- 
ASDVILLE,  the  beloved  and  famous  chief  of  the  Miainics . 
• 


POPULATION  AT  DIFFERENT  PERIODS.  317 

The  Indians  are  said  to  have  had  some  huts  upon  it,  some  years  ago. 
In  removing  this  great  sand  heap,  as  in  digging  at  other  points, 
•within  the  present  limits  of  Fort  Wayne,  the  Indians  having  de- 
posited their  dead  here  and  there,  many  bones  and  skulls  were 
exhumed  and  removed.  On  one  occasion,  some  workmen  thus 
engaged,  among  many  others,  dug  up  a  most  remarkable  skull 
— with  high  forehead  and  general  formation  extremely  large — in- 
dicating a  giant  form  to  the  possessor.* 

Somewhat  to  the  south  of  this  once  great  sand-hill,  where  there 
were1  also  some  open  points,  the  Indians,  for  many  years,  cultivated 
small  patches  of  corn  and  other  products. 

Since  the  incorporation  of  the  "Town  of  Fort  Wayne,"  in  1825, 
when  the  principal  edifices  were  ;'  substantial  log  buildings,"  there 
has  been  a  steady  improvement  and  increase  of  populaiton.  More 
especially,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  has  the  place  advanced  in 
material  wealth  and  general  improvement. 

The  estimated  population  of  the  place  and  vicinity,  in  1828, 
was  about  500.  Two  years  later,  1830,  it  had  reached  about  800  ; 
and  in  1810,  about  1200;  in  1850,  about  4200;  in  1860,  10.300, 
while,  at  the  present  period,  subburbial  portions  included,  it  has 
reached  a  population  of  upwards  29.000 ;  and  its  material  growth 
in  building,  manufacture,  and  general  commercial  pursuits,  has 
kept  pace  with  the  advance  in  population. 

A  former  resident  of  Fort  Wayne,  who  visited  the  scenes  of  his 
boyhood,  during  1867,  thus  writes  : 

"  Nearly  a  third  of  a  century  ago,  when  the  writer,  then  a  boy, 
was  residing  half  a  mile  from  Fort  Wayne,  the  place  was  known 
abroad  chiefly  as  being  the  site  of  the  fort,  which  gives  it  a  part  of 
its  name,  and"  as  one  of  the  villages  on  the  line  of  the  canal.  Co- 
lumbia street  monopolized  the  business,  being  the  focus  of  the 
Tillage  trade.  The  only  church  then  built  was  the  old  Presbyteri- 
an, now  an  unsightly  wreck.  When  the  act  of  secession  occurred, 
and  the  church  became  divided  into  Old  School  and  New  School, 
the  court  house  served  as  a  place  of  worship  for  the  latter. 

"  By  the  laws  common  to  humanity,  most  of  those  who  were 
prominent  in  business  at  that  day  have  since  passed  away,  and 
their  places  have  been  filled  by  another  generation.  A  few  still 
remain,  however,  and  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  and  con- 

*  Mr.  Daniel  Kiser,some  eighteen  or  twenty  years  ago,  on  the  Cole  farm,  dug  up  the 
remains  of  an  Indian  woman,  and  also  founcl  in  the  grave  a  silver  cup,  a  number  of 
brooches,  and  a  snutf  box,  on  which  was  the  portrait  of  Wm.  Penn — the  figure  of  an 
ordinary  quill-pen  being  located  near  the  portrait,  as  expressive  of  the  name  of  this  old 
Quaker  philanthropist. 

Mr.  Charles  M.  Wells,  also,  some  seventeen  years  ago,  dug  up  a  number  of  Indian 
bones — seemingly  a  man  and  woman.  On  the  breast  of  the  woman  were  a  number  of 
ear-drop?,  brooches  and  crosses.  A  beautiful  piece  of  ribbon  was  also  found  near  tin- 
oar-drops,  <tc.,  which  seemed  to  have  retained  all  its  primitive  elasticity  and  beau- 
ty, until  touched,  when  it  instantly  crumbled  to  dust.  A  little  son  of  X.  P. 
Stockbridge,  Ksq.,  some  months  since,  among  a  number  of  other  Indian  relics,  found 
two  little  Indian  bolls.  Many  flint-t,  tomahawks,  »fcc.,  have  also  been  dug  up  at  diff.'ivnt 
times  during  the  past,  few  years  How  long  many  of  these  bones  and  relics  have  thus 
beea  concealed  in  tlitieurth,  none  ouo  toll. 

I 


HISTORY  OP  FORT  WAYNE* 

versing  with  several  of  the  '  old  residents.'  Two  teachers  -\ylio 
taught  my  young  ideas  'how  to  shoot,'  a  third  of  a  century  ago, 
are  still  residents  of  this  city.  The  schools  were  then  taught  in 
the  basement  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  above  referred  to,  and  in 
a  little  brick  building,  located  about  where  the  jail  stands.  The 
former  was  then  at  the  eastern  extreme  of  the  village,  while  the 
latter  was  beyond  the  western  extreme*  The  Old  Fort  was  then  in 
the  suburbs. 

"  During  the  interval  of  a  third  of  a  century  the  writer  has  visi- 
ted Fort  Wayne  several  times,  and  has  been  glad  to  notice,  of 
late  years,  so  commendable  a  spirit  of  enterprise  exhibited  by  her 
business  men.  Without  any  natural  advantages,  the  city  has  been 
and  must  be  the  architect  of  her  own  fortunes.  That  truly  liberal 
and  far-seeing  policy  which  sacrifices  the  present  for  the  future, 
and  builds  lines  of  railroads  into  and  through  new,  thinly  settled 
regions,  will  yet,  I  think,  make  Fort  Wayne  one  of  the  foremost 
manufacturing  cities  of  the  West  If  the  last  few  years  have  done 
much,  the  next  few  years  may  be  made  to  do  far  more  for  the  growth 
and  material  prosperity  of  the  place.  Your  numerous  churches 
and  your  seats  of  learning  show  that  the  moral  and  intellectual 
advancement  of  your  city  have  been  cared  for;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  Fort  Wayne  will  become  celebrated  for  law  and  order,  as  well 
as  for  the  enterprise  and  liberal  spirit  of  its  business  men.  I  do 
not  here  allude  to  events  of  recent  occurrence.  With  these  I  have 
nothing  to  do.  I  only  claim,  as  one,  a  portion  of  whose  boyhood 
was  passed  here,  to  i'eel  a  friendly  interest  in  the  growth  and  wel- 
fare of  your  city.  Peace  be  within  its  wails,  and  prosperity  within 
her  gates.  Show  the  outside  world  that  Fort  Wayne 

is  up  to  all  the  requirements  of  the  age  in  educational  facilities ; 
expend  money  liberally  in  Nicholson  pavements ;  encourage  the 
new  lines  of  railroads  by  every  private  and  public  means  ;  orna- 
ment and  improve  your  public  grounds  and  private  residences,  and 
in  the  next  decade  you  may  challenge  comparison  with  any  city  in 
our  borders.  As  a  permanent  business  investment^  eligible  lots 
are  worth  more,  foot  for  foot,  than  in  any  city  in  Indiana."* 

"  The  causes  that  produced  this  rapid  growth,"  says  Mr.  Williams, 
are  apparent.  The  commanding  situation  of  the  town,  in  the  centre 
of  a  large  and  fertile  scope  of  country  that  sought  this  point  for 
trade,  with  no  competing  town  and  the  facilities  for  export  and 
import,  were  important  elements  in  its  growth.  The  facilities  for 
this  commerce,  resulted  from  the  important  internal  improvements 
constructed  so  as  to  make  this  an  important  point  on  their  routes."f 

*  Foi't  Wayne  Gazette,  April  4th,  18G7. 

t  Referring  to  the  canal  and  railroads,  "  By  affording  the  means  of  shipping  direct 
to  the  lake,"  says  the  same  writer,  "  (he  canal  drew  the  trade  of  a  large  region  of  coun- 
try, north  and  south,  immediately  to  this  point.  The  water  power  resulting  from  this 
improvement,  furnished  facilities  for  the  erection  of  mills  and  manufactories  that  were 
a  great  importance  in  its  progress  ;  and  from  this  period  it  took  a  new  start,  and  this 
impetus  continued  till  the  era  of  plank  roads,  in  1848.  These  roads,"  says  he,  "were  con- 
structed with  much  energy  and  rapidity  to  a  great  distance  in  every  dircctiorij  attract- 
ing au  increased  trade  from  a  large  and  fertile aection  of  country." 


t 
THE  WORLD'S  FUTURE  GREAT  COMMERCIAL  Crrr.  310 

During- 1867,  upwards  of  200  dwellings,  handsome  and  commodi- 
ous storehouses,  and  other  edifices,  were  built. 

The  general  business  relations  of  the  city  of  Fort  Wayne,  at  the 
present  period,  are  of  the  first  order ;  and  it  may  be  said  of  the 
business  men  of  our  city  to-day,  that  they  are  among  the  most  ac- 
tive, liberal,  and  enterprising  of  the  land,  with  a  credit  and  repu- 
tation for  promptness  unsurpassed  by  any  place  of  equal  size  in  the 
West.  Of  manufactories,  of  different  kinds,  there  are  few  cities  of 
similar  size  in  the  union  that  can  equal  her.  The  busy  wheels  and 
spindles  of  the  machine  shops  and  factories  j  the  steady  click  of  the 
hammer;  and  constant  puffing  of  steam-pipes,  at  every  hand, 
tell  how  active  and  how  numerous — in  "  what  a  heat  and  what  a 
forge  " — the  hardy  yeomanry — the  working-men — of  Fort  Wayne 
are  employed.  Such  a  scene  of  industry  and  civilization,  could 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Ke-ki-ong-a  suddenly  step  in  upon  their  old 
familiar  "  stamping  ground,"  would  indeed  u  astonish  the  natives." 
Possessing,  as  this  locality  does,  the  many  natural  advantages  of 
material  ibr  building  purposes ;  the  facilities  for  reaching,  and 
nearness  to,  the  principal  markets  of  the  country,  with  other  im- 
portant reasons  and  advantages,  Fort  Wayne — if  keeping  alive 
within  her  borders  those  finer  feelings  and  relations  of  sociality, 
harmony,  good-will,  and  fair  dealing,  so  essential  to  the  better 
growth  and  prosperity  of  every  people,  town,  city,  and  county — is 
destined  to  become  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  important  MANU- 
FACTURING cities  of  the  country.  And  there  is,  perhaps,  no  material 
reason  why  the  great  central  depot — the  great  mart  of  trade — of 
the  American  Central  Railroad,  soon  to  connect  California  wiih  the 
East,  may  not  at  no  distant  period,  find  a  seat  at  this  point  as  the 
most  central  and  important  of  all  the  points  yet  referred  to  by  thoso 
who  have  given  the  matter  candid  and  impartial  consideration.* 

The  following  list  of  manufacturing  establishments,  independ- 

*The  thought  of  a  "  COMING  MAX,"  in  whose  organism  \rould  centre,  as  a  grand  exem- 
plary model,  all  the  more  harmouious  and  exhalted  conditions  and  attributes  of  ment- 
al and  physical  life,  has  long  attracted  the  attention  and  earnest  consideration  ofa  largo 
tnass  of  the  civilized  world.  So,  also,  among  the  more  reflective  and  studious  of  man- 
kind, has  the  idea  of  a  great  commercial  centre  on  the  American  continent,  located  at 
some  favorable  point  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains,  on  the  great  "  central  plain," 
lying  between  the  seaboard  on  the  east  and  California  on  the  west,  taken  deep  root, 
beginning  mainly  with  General  Washington,  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  others  at  an  early 
period  of  our  country's  history,  and  of  late  years,  and  perhaps  never  more  earnestly 
and  thoughtfully  than  at  the  present  time,  has  the  subject  been  discussed  and  rclu,- 
ted  upon.  And  still  it  will  attract  attention,  until  the  end  is  attained. 

Everything  seems  to  gravitate  towards  a  common  centre.  Water  finds  its  level;  ami 
globes  and  men  act  and  re-act  continually,  both  magnetically  and  imperceptibly,  upon 
each  other,  to  the  attainment  and  out-growth  of  the  unity  and  better  developemcnt  of 
the  human  race. 

Everything  serves  some  wise  end  in  the  great  economy  of  existence;  and  Commerce, 
like  the  evolution  and  promulgation  of  the  groat  principles  and  elements  of  science  and 
philosophy,  in  its  gravitative  movements  from  point  to  point  over  the  old  world,  has 
for  ages  contributed  largely  to  this  glorious  "end  and  aim  "  of  life— the  unity  of  tlm 
human  family--  the  establishment  of  a  natural  relationship  and  common  genealogy  of 
the  elements  of  the  globe—organic  and  inorganic,  as  their  general  condition  andatruc- 
ture  may  appi-ar. 

Unlike  past  agoe,  when  the  groat  centre  of  the  commercial  world  sought  to  plant  it- 


320  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WAYNE.  .    tv 

ent  of  the  industrial  relations  of  the  railroad  shops,  will  give  the 
reader  an  extended  view  of  the  manufacturing  enterprise  of  Fort 
Wayne  and  vicinity  at  the  present  period : 

There  are  three  large  founderies,  employing  from  forty-three  to 
upwards  of  one  hundred  men  each,  with  an  average  pay-roll  of 
from  two  thousand  five  hundred  to  eight  thousand  dollars  per 
month,  and  are  unable  to  keep  pace  with  the  demand  for  their 
labor. 

self  at  some  favorable  point  iipnn  the  shores  oftheocean.or  at  the  mouth  of  someexten- 
Bire  stream,  flowing  oceanward,  or  through  vast  regions  of  territory,  regardless  of 
centralization,  or  neavness  to  the  main  body  of  the  civilized  inhabitants  surrounding, 
sending  out,  annually,  vast  quantities  of  goods  and  commerce  of  various  kinds  through 
one  mighty  channel,  as  it  were,  here  in  America,  to-day,  and  for  years  past,  a  great 
centre  is  being  sought,  wherein,  and  without  shall  flow  the  va^t  commerce  of  the  con- 
tinent, and  perhaps  the  -world— penetrating  in  every  direction  to  the  most  remote  as 
well  as  the  nearest  points  of  trade,  by  railroad  and  navigable  water  courses,  with  ease 
and  speed. 

Let  us  for  a  moment  look  at  Fort  Wayne  as  one  of  the  most  favorable  as  well  as  most 
central  (in  view  of  the  vast  population  to  the  east,  north  and  south  of  us,)  points  for 
the  establishment  of  such  a  centre.  With  her  railroad  advantages  present  and  pros- 
pective, the  reader  will  already  have  made  himself  familiar—penetrating  as  they  will, 
in  a  few  years  more,  in  every  direction,  connecting  her,  in  a  few  hours  of  travel,  with 
every  important  seaboard  and  inland  town  and  city  on  the  continent—even  to  Califor- 
nia itself.  The  streams  that  centre  here,  including  the  advantages  long  afforded  by  the 
Wabash  and  Erie  canal,  with  proper  attention  and  the  outlay  of  a  few  thousand  dollars, 


Erie—thus  affording  ready  and  easy  transportation  from  the  Lakes  and  all  interior 
points,  to  the  most  advantageous  centre  of  trade,  to  all  adjacent  points  thereto,  and  to 
the  fartherest  limits  beyond,  where  demand  shall  call  for  supply.  While,  as  a  grain 
and  fruit-growing,  wool-pfoducing,  and  stock-raising  district,  in  a  few  years,  with  the 
proper  inducements  for  extensive  scientific  culture,  in  the  use  of  the  best  mechanical 
•appliances  in  the  cultivation  aud  chemical  understanding  of  thesoil,in  planting,  reap- 
ing, mowing,  etc.,  etc.,  this,  with  the  great  scope  of  country  lying  for  hundreds  of 
miles  in  every  direction  around  us,  may  become  among  the  foremost  of  the  land.  Tim- 
ber, for  fire  wood,  manufacturing  and  building  purposes,  is  to  be  had  in  great  abund- 
ance, at  ever}*  ?idc;  and  as  will  already  have  be<  n  si-en,  the  material  and  advantages,  in 
other  respects>  for  building,  are  inexhaustible.  (See  chapter  I,  page  2,)  In  point  of 
health,  there  are  few  sections  of  the  country,  where  the  masses  enjoy  better  geneial 
health  than  Fort  Wayne  and  vicinity. 

These,  then,  with  many  other  important  relations  and  advantages,  that  might  be 
named,  are  of  the  first  necessity  and  importance  in  the  building  and  establishment  of 
sucha  manufacturing  centre  of  industry  aud  commerce  ;  and  the  rapid  strides  that  have 
been  ma  'e  here,  in  building  and  general  improvement  during  the  past  few  years — the 
early  location  here  of  some  of  the  most  extensive  railroad  shops  in  the  west,  for  the 
manufacture  of  cars,  engines,  etc. — point  most  clearly,  if  not  absolutely,  to  this  &s  the 
•world's  future  manufacturing  and  commercial  centre.  And  while,  at  the  same  time, 
the  suggestion  of  such  a  result  may  awaken  a  smile  of  disbelief  in  some,  yet,  in  after 
years,  (for  it  will  not  be  the  growth  of  a  day,)  we  may  behold  its  fullest  realization. 
Let  the  reader  note  the  suggestion,  and  await,  results.  ., 

Toledo,  Ohio,  Chicago,  111.,  and  Omaha,  Nebraska,  are  already  named  as  this  great 
commercial  centre.  It  is  not  likely  to  settle  down  upon  or  gravitate  towards  all  of 
these  flourishing  cities:  and  as  Fort  Wayne,  with  her  many  rare  advantages,  is  most 
favorably  located  between  the  former,  and  an  important  point  on  the  line  of  the 
Great  Central  American  Railway  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  which  -will 
touch  neither  Toledo  or  Chiea'go,  the  chances  are  largely  in  our  favor.  To  this 
end,  therefore,  every  citizen — evciy  farmer  of  Allen  county, — by  a  continuous  due  re- 
gard for  order,  honesty,  truthfulness  and  fair  dealing, — the  better  developeinent  of  the 
eociiil,  intellectual,  manufacturing,  horticultural,  agricultural  and  general  industrial 
relations  of  our  eiry  and  county,  may  and  should  contribute  something  each  day 
towordathe  coueuiumatiouof  thisjjlorioxis  end.  '•  Ye  know  not  what  ye  shall  be/'  The 


BUSINESS  RELATIONS — MANUFACTORIES.  321 

Two  extensive  file  manufactories ;  one  lock  factory ;  three  large 
steam  tanneries;  soap  and  candle  factory;  four  saw  mills;  fonr 
large  flooring  and  dressing  mills ;  an  extensive  woolen  factory  ; 
two  spoke  and  hub  factories ;  two  shingle  factories ,  one  boiler 
factory ;  three  sash  and  door  factories ;  one  box  factory  ;  two  trunk 
factories;  four  candy  factories;  four  saddle  and  harness  manufac- 
tories ;  five  wagon  factories  ;  three  carriage  factories ;  three  under- 
takers and  coffin  makers ;  two  plow  manufactories ;  two  potash 
manufactories  ;  three  cooper  shops  ;  and  one  large  paper  mill,  all 
doing  an  extensive  business,  with  heavy  shipments,  in  some  in- 
stances, as  for  east  as  Boston,  Mass..  south  and  west  as  far  as  New 
Orleans,  St.  Louis,  &c. 

The  business-showing,  in  other  relations,  is  equally  fair  and  prom- 
ising. Of  dry  goods,  grocery,  clothing,  boot  and  shoe,  china, 
hardware,  tin  and  stove,  variety,  drug,  book  and  periodical,  millin- 
ery, music,  and  other  stores,  banking  houses,  hotels,  &c.,  there  are 
about  two  hundred  and  seventy  ;  some  of  the  larger  business  houses 
doing  an  annual  business  of  from  twenty,  thirty,  fifty,  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  thousand,  to  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars. 

Among  the  most  extensive  as  well  as  most  important  adjuncts 
to  the  general  manufacturing  interest  and  business  relations  of  the 
city  of  Fort  Wayne,  at  the  present  period,  are  those  presented  by 
the  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railroad,  which  was  commenced  in 

conditions  of  this  great  superstructure  are  with  us.    Let  us  improve  them,  and  wait. 

"  Westward,  ho !  the  seat  of  empire  takes  its  way  !  "  rang  out  upon  the  still  air  of 
the  continent  during  the  colonial  days  of  our  Republic;  and  a  steady  influx  of  emi- 
gration— a  continuous  enlargement  of  our  agricultural  domain,  in  clearing,  etc.,  have 
now  continued  for  upwards  of  sixty  years  ;  until  to-day,  the  west,  in  every  material, 
as  well  as  intellectual  point  of  view,  is  mighty  to  look  upon.  Look,  then,  at  her  ad- 
vancement, fifty  years  or  less  hence!  She'll  then, and  before,  demand  such  a  com- 
mercial and  manufacturing  centre;  and  Fort  Wayne  is  as  likely  to  be  that  centre — per- 
haps MOST  likely — than  any  other  of  the  points  already  brought  forward. 

The  past,  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  may  be  no  special  criterion  for  the  Future. 
Presuming  that  the  city  of  London,  England,  is  now,  and  for  years  past  has  been,  the 
world's  great  commercial  centre,  it  is  not  fully  presumable  that  this  centre  will,  within 
a  few  score  years,  shift  its  locality  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  there  rest  for  an  hun- 
dred years  more,  and  then  make  its  way  westward.  No  ;  we  shall  long  ere  that  peri- 
od build  up  and  most  fully  establish  a  commercial  radius  in  the  west,  and  from  her 
•extensive  workshops  and  well-tilled  agricultural  districts,  we  shall  be,  as  in  no  small 
•degree,  we  are  now,  enabled  to  furnish  the  markets  of  the  East  and  Europe  with  vast 
stores  of  grain  and  other  of  our  productive  wealth.  The  demand  for  sucn  a  centre  ie 
already  apparent ;  already  it  is  beginning  to  grow — to  show  the  strongest  signs  of  life, 
and  to  present  the  fullest  and  most  substantial  prospects  of  realization  in  future  years. 

Before  the  era  of  railroads,  the  lakes  and  navigable  rivers  were  the  principal  courses 
of  travel  and  trade;  but  lattelry,  for  some  years  past,  these  channels  have  greatly 
diminished  in  importance  as  well  as  trade  and  travel ;  though  by  no  means  likely  to 
be  lost  sight  of  entirely  in  this  relation,  as  a  means  of  commercfal  intercourse,  yet,  so 
long  as  tlie  convenience  and  spec  1  of  the  railroad  is  maintained, — which  is  likely  for 
•centuries  to  be  the  case,  with  the  addition  of  many  comforts,  more  safety,  and  greater 
cheapness  of  travel  thereon — the  navigable  streams  and  lakes  are  not  likely  to  gain 
.any  material  ascendency  in  the  future.  So  that  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  the 
future  great  commercial  and  manufacturing  city  of  the  globe  should  be  located  on  the 
*hore  of  some  extensive  lake  or  river,  or  at  some  favorable  point  on  the  seaboard,  at 
either  extreme  of  the  American  continent,  in  order  to  be  the  more  extensive  and 
equable  in  its  intercourse  with,  and  relations  to,  other  parts  of  the  globe. 


322  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

1854,*  and  completed  in  1857.  The  Ohio  and  Indiana  railroad 
was  the  first  located  here,  which  occurred  in  1852,  and  completed 
in  1854.  In  1856,  the  Ohio  and  Indiana  and  Fort  Wayne  and  Chi- 
cago roads  were  consolidated  with  the  Ohio  and  Pennsyl- 
vania road,  and  continued  thereafter  to  constitute  the  "  Pittsburgh, 
Fort  Wayne,  &  Chicago  Railroad  Company,"  forming  a  line  of  some 
550  miles  in  length,  which  is  unequalled  in  general  importance  and 
successful  business  management  by  any  road  of  similar  length  in 
the  United  States. 

Being  a  central  point  on  these  extensive  lines,  the  companies 
early  selected  this  as  most  convenient  for  the  location  of  the  vari- 
ous machine  shops  necessary  for  the  repair  of  machinery  and 
building  of  rolling  stock,  such  as  cars,  engines,  &c.  As  now  en- 
larged and  faciliated,  the  shops  of  the  Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne,  and 
Chicago  Company  furnish  employment  for  upwards  of  seven  hun- 
dred mechanics  and  laborers,  with  a  monthly  pay-roll  of  over 
$ 50.000.  Aside  from  these,  the  travel  over  the  road  and  the  freight 
receipts,  have  added  immensely  to  the  general  commercial  interest 
and  wealth  of  the  place.  And  already  several  new  lines  are  cen- 
tering here  from  different  points — most  prominent  among  which, 
are  the  Fort  Wayne  and  Southern  ;  the  Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana ; 
Cincinnati,  Richmond,  and  Fort  Wayne ;  while  the  Great  American 
Central -Road  will  make  this  an  important  point  in  its  route  from 
New  York  to  San  Francisco. 

The  total  earnings  of  the  P.,  Ft.  W.,  and  C.  road  for  1866,  were 
$7,467,217.56 ;  expenditures,  $5,147,686.54. 

The  shops  of  this  road  embrace  a  two-story  brick  depot,  190  feet 
long,  by  70  feet  wide ;  a  freight-house,  200  by  60  feet ;  main  build- 
ing of  the  car  shop,  two  stories,  "220  by  75  feet,  with  two  wings, 
one  story,!  88  by  75  feet  each;  machine  and  blacksmith  shops,327  by 
65  feet,  two  stories,  with  two  wings  for  engine  and  boiler  shops, 
each  100  by  59  feet ;  a  round-house,  60  feet  deep  by  308  feet  in 
diameter,  with  stalls  for  forty  engines.  A  new  machine  shop,  340 
by  120  feet,  was  added  to  these  in  1866  ;  by  which  they  are  en- 
abled to  build  one  entirely  new  engine  per  month,  besides  keeping 
up  all  repairs  on  the  western  division  of  the  roads.  When  it  is 
necessary,  one  hundred  freight  and  passenger  cars  can  be  built  per 
month,  besides  keeping  up  repairs  on  rolling  stock.  The  average 
amount  of  lumber  used  per  month,  is  upwards  700,000  feet,  at  a 
cost  of  more  than  $12.000.  Already  further  enlargements  are 
contemplated,  and  a  new  paint  shop  and  foundry  will  soon  be  built. 

*The  first  locomotive  that  reached  Fort  Wayne,  came  by  way  of  the  canal,  in  charge 
of  R.  W.  Wohlfort ;  and  was  landed  near  the  warehouse  of  D.  F.  Comparet,  Esq.,  June 
4th,  1854.  So  great  was  the  interest  and  curiosity  upon  its  arrival,  that  hundrecs  of 
the  citizens  of  Fort  Wayne  flocked  near  the  place  of  landing  to  get  a  peep  at  the  "iroa 
horse."  Mr.  W.  tells  many  amusing  incidents,  as  well  as  "  hair  breadth  escapes,"  as 
•onnected  with  his  "  voyage"  thither,  with  this  first  engine  for  the  western  division 
•f  this  road.  At  this  time  there  was  a  temporary  buildirgnear  Mr.  Comparet'e  ware- 
house, which  served  «s  a  sort  of  "  round-house  "  for  the  engines,  and  a  track  also  ex- 
tended from  this  point  to  the  site  of  the  present  railroad  buildings. 


RAILROAD   INTERESTS.  323 

The  general  superintendent  of  the  western  division  of  the  P.,  Ft. 
W.,  and  C.  R.  R.,  C.  E.  Gorham,  Esq.,  resides  at  Fort  Wayne. 

The  Toledo  and  Western  road  was  begun  in  1854,  and  complet- 
ed in  1856,  which  connects  Lake  Erie  with  the  Mississippi  river. 

The  buildings  of  this  road  embrace  a  round-house,  140  feet  in 
diameter,  with  a  capacity  for  24  engines  ;  a  brick  machine  shop, 
100  feet  wide  by  160  feet  long  ;  a  blacksmith  shop,  40  feet  wide, 
and  160  feet  long ;  a  wood  shop,  30  feet  wide,  and  200  feet  long. 
There  is  also  a  passenger  and  freight  depot.  The  shops  of  thig 
road,  as  in  the  foregoing,  give  regular  employment  to  about  300 
workmen,  with  a  pay-roll  of  $20.000  per  month.  Length  of  road, 
520  miles.  Earnings  for  1866— $3,717,386  ;  Expenditures  for  1866, 
$2,811,186;  with  a  constant  increase  of  business.  40.000  tickets 
were  sold  at  the  Fort  Wayne  office  of  this  road  during  the  year  1866 

The  manufacturing  interests  of  Fort  Wayne,  as  the  reader  can 
well  infer,  from  the  facts  and  figures  thus  presented,  form  no  small 
amount  of  interest  in  the  general  business-showing  of  the  place, 
and  have  attracted  hither  many  of  the  most  efficient  and  exemplary 
workmen  to  be  found  in  America,  who  receive  good  wages,  and 
not  a  few  of  whom  have  bought  property  and  built  themselves 
neat  dwellings,  with  a  view  to  permanent  residence  in  the  place. 

With  such  advantages — such  a  growth  in  manufacturing  rela- 
tions and  facilities — what  should  impede  the  continued  and  rapid 
progress  of  our  city  in  every  noble  and  generous  point  of  view — 
every  unselfish,  intelligent,  and  patriotic  relation  of  life ! 

The  year  following  the  arrival  here  of  the  first  railway  engine, 
in  1854,  the  "Fort  Wayne  Gas  Company"  was  incorporated,  March, 
1855,  and  works  erected,  whose  pipes  now  extend  throughout  the 
largest  portion  of  the  city. 

The  first  printing  office  established  in  Fort  Wayne,  was  that  of 
the  "  Fort  Wayne  Sentinel?  by  Thomas  Tigar  arid  S.  V.  B.  Noel, 
Esqs.,  in  June,  1833,*  and  located  in  the  old  Masonic  Hall  building, 
which  then  stood  on  the  site  of  Messrs.  Hill  <fe  Orbison's  ware- 
house, on  Columbia  street. 

At  the  present  period,  there  are  two  Daily  papers  and  three 
Weeklies  issued  in  the  place,  viz :  the  Daily  and  Weekly  Democrat, 
Daily  and  Weekly  Gazette,  and  a  German  paper,  the  Staats  Zeitung. 

In  a  denominational  and  educational  point  of  view,  Fort  Wayne 
has  long  borne  a  most  favorable  reputation,  as  a  church-going  and 
educational-loving  people.  Nearly  every  Christian  denomination 
has  its  representative  here,  with  fifteen  churches,  including  th« 
synagogue  of  the  Hebrew  denomination.  Some  of  these  edifices 

*Itwas  in  the  Spring  of  this  year  (1833)that  quite  a  large,  elegant  steamboat,  called 
the  "  PHENOMENON,"  commanded  by  Capt.  DENIELE,  and  piloted  t>y  Capt.  ISAAC  WOOD- 
SOCK,  of  Antwerp,  Ohio,  came  up  the  Maumee  to  Fort  Wayne,  and  made  a  landing 
just  opposite  where  now  stands  the  woolen  factory  of  French,  Hanna  <fe  Co., on  Water 
•treet.  On  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  the  place,  David  H.  Colerick,  Esq.,  gave  the  Cap- 
tain and  all  on  board  a  most  cordial  welcome,  and  a  gay  party  of  citizens,  of  boUi 
aexes,  were  soon  gathered  on  board  the  vessel,  who,  with  music,  dancing,  and  social 
«onv«ree,  sp«nt  several  hours,  and  till  far  into  the  night,  in  the  most  agreeable  manner. 


324  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

are  most  handsome  in  their  general  architectural  appearance,  and 
quite  commodious.  In  public  as  well  as  private  schools,  there  are 
few  places  of  equal  size  in  America  that  can  present  a  better  show- 
ing in  the  number  and  regularity  of  pupils  in  attendance  each  week 
than  Fort  Wayne.  The  reader  is  already  familiar  with  the  locality 
and  status  of  the  lirst  school  and  school-house  in  our  city,  as  also 
the  first  schoolmaster.  From  these  small  beginnings,  Fort  Wayne 
has  steadily  advanced,  until,  at  the  present  period,  there  are  up- 
wards of  2000  pupils  in  regular  attendance  in  the  two  spacious 
public  school  buildings,  known  as  the  "East-end"  and  "West-end," 
with  a  corps  of  some  36  teachers,  and  a  superintendent,  whose  effi- 
ciency and  care  in  the  disciplining  and  culture  of  the  youthful 
mind,  are  only  equalled  by  their  earnestness  and  good-nature.  Jas. 
H.  Smart,  Esq.,  is  the  present  worthy  superintendent  of  our  public 
schools,  and  under  his  supervision,  for  the  past  three  years,  the 
schools  have  arisen  to  a  point  of  excellence  unequalled  anywhere 
in  the  West  or  East. 

Among  the  different  denominations  there  are  also  several  excel- 
lent schools,  which  are  largely  attended.  There  is  also  a  thriving 
commercial  college  here,  enabling  the  poorest  to  obtain  a  complete 
commercial  and  business  education  at  a  very  small  out-lay — a  rare 
advantage  in  any  place. 

In  a  collegiate  relation,  aside  from  the  commercial  institute,  we 
have  two  most  excellent  institutions,  the  "  Concordia  University," 
and  the  "  Fort  Wayne  College,"  both  of  which  are  admirably  con- 
ducted and  well  attended. 

Such  is  the  City  of  Fort  Wayne  at  the  present  period.  Let  its 
march  still  be  onward.  Let  us  advance  continually,  not  only  in 
things  physical,  but  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  mental  and  spiritual 
welfare  of  every  soul  within  and 'without  her  walls.  Let  us  move 
steadily  on,  with  the  Right  ever  in  view,  adding,  day  by  day,  to  the 
strengtli  and  durability  of  the  great  edifice  of  Truth  and  Progress, 
in  which  we  all  hope  to  find  an  agreeable  seat  in  that  glorious 
Future  when  the  "  o'ood-time  "  shall  have  come. 


NOTK  TO  THE  HEADER — EEKATA.-Since  the  main  body  of  the  work  was  printed,  in 
looking  over  the  volume,  I  discovered  a  few  typographical  errors,  which  had  been  over- 
looked in  reading  proof  and  by  the  printer  in  the  correction  of  the  proof-sheets ;  all 
of,  which,  however,  will  be  readily  comprehended  by  the  intelligent  reader.  The  most 
important  of  these  are  as  follows:  In  the  "Sketch  of  the  Life  of  General  Anthony 
Wayne,"  first  pare,  first  line,  for  "not  alone  a  valiant  officer  and  soldier,"  read  "not 
•JNLY  a  valiant  officer,"  &c.  On  page  x.  of  same,  19th  line  from  the  top  of  the  page,  in- 
stead of  "  whither  he  soon  returned,"  &c.,  read  "  WHENCE  ho  soon  returned,"  &e.  In 
Chapter  I,  page  5,  21st  line  from  top  of  page,  first  word,  for  "colonel,"  read  col-onial. 
Page  6th  of  same  Chapter,  10th  line  from  top  of  page,  for  "  purported  to 


Page  6th  of  same  Chapter,  10th  line  from  top  of  page,  for  "  purported  to  have  been," 
,fcc.,  read  "reported  to  have  been,"  <fec.  Chapter  XXIII,  page  273,  7th  line  from 
bottom  of  page,  for  "Lieutenants  Scorgin  Bell,"&c.,  read  "Lieutenants  Scorgin  and 
Bell,"  &c.  At  the  bottom  of  page  22,  Chapter  I,  in  note  two,  (f)  beginning  at  first  of 
third  line  from  the  bottom  of  the  page,  read  "  throwing  ;  "  second  line  from  bottom  of 
same  first  word,  read  "  very ; "  bottom  line,  same  page,  first  word,  read  "  fort."  In 
Chapter  II,  page  25,  17th  line,  in  a  part  of  the  edition,  the  word  "  heroines"  is  printed 
heroes.  In  "  Prefatory  Remarks,"  second  page,  2d  line,  "Dr.  J  B.  Brown,"  should  be 
Dr.  S.  B.  Brown. 


Biographical    Sketches 


OF 


SETTLERS 

OF 


FOET    WAYNE, 

ETC. 


(A) 


1&  C/LL-C*'**'  a-^L 


BIOGRAPHY 

OF  '  THC      I.ATI 

HON.    SAMUEL    HANNA 


It  is  the  dictate  of  our  nature,  no  less  than  of  enlightened  social  policy,  to  honor 
the  illustrioui  dead;  to  bedew  •with  affectionate  tears  the  silent  urn  of  departed 
genius  and  virtue;  to  unburden  the  fulness  of  the  surcharged  heart  in  eulogium 
upon  deceased  benefactors;  and  to  rehearse  their  noble  deeds  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  may  come  after  us.  It  has  been  the  commendable  custom  of  all  ages  and  all 
nations.  Hence  the  following  feeble  tribute  to  one  of  nature's  noblemen. 

Samuel  Hanna  was  born  October  18th,  1797,  in  Scott  county,  Kentucky.  Hit 
father,  James  Hanna,  removed  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  1804,  and  settled  on  anew  farm, 
lying  contiguous  to  the  southern  boundary  of  that  town.  He  was  one  of  a  numerous 
family,  all  of  whom  attained  respectable,  and  most  of  them,  distinguished  position* 
in  life.  Samuel's  early  days  were  passed,  like  those  of  most  boys  in  a  new  country,  in 
assisting  his  father  to  clear  up  hia  farm,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  such  limited  edu- 
cational advantages  as  were  attainable  in  the  West  at  that  early  day.  His  earliest 
employment,  away  from  the  protection  of  the  parental  roof,  was  that  of  post-rider, 
as  it  was  called  ;  that  is,  taking  newspapers  from  the  publication  office  and  delivering 
thorn  to  subscribers  at  their  residences,  located  far  and  near  over  the  country — an 
employment  now  obsolete,  but  extensively  practiced  fifty  years  ago,  when  post-offices 
were  almost  entirely  limited  to  the  county-seats.  In  this  humble  calling,  the  youth- 
ful Hanna  passed  considerable  time,  traversing,  week  after  week,  the  then  wilder- 
ness of  western  Olio. 

There  is  one  incident  connected  with  his  first  business  enterprise  well  worthy  of 
being  recorded  for  the  benefit  of  the  young  men  who  are  ambitious  to  rise  in 
the  world. 

It  seems  that  in  his  nineteenth  year,  young  Hanna  occupied  the  position  of  clerk 
in  a  store  in  Piqua,  Ohio.  He  and  another  young  man,  also  a  minor,  bought  out 
the  proprietor,  giving  their  notes  for  $3,000.  Soon  after,  these  notes  were  trans- 
ferred to  an  innocent  purchaser.  About  the  same  time,  the  goods  which  they  had 
purchased  were  taken  from  them  by  writ  of  attachment,  leaving  the  young  men 
•without  means,  and  incumbered  by  a  heavy  indebtedness.  Hanna's  partner  soon 
relieved  himself  of  the  liability  by  the  plea  of  infancy.  Not  so  young  Hanna. 
Although  his  friends  advised  him  to  the  same  course,  representing  that  he  had  been 
swindled,  he  nobly  declined,  declaring  that  he  would  pay  the  last  dollar  of  the  debt, 
should  providence  ever  favor  him  with  the  means.  It  is  but  justice  to  the  memory 
of  Mr.  Hanna  to  say  that  he  subsequently  redeemed  this  promise,  and  paid  the  debt, 
in  full,  principal  and  interest. 

Integrity  and  uprightness  thus  early  evinced,  amidst  strong  inducements  to  a  con- 
trary course,  characterized  his  long  and  useful  career,  and  gave  him  immense  influ- 
ence over  his  fellow  men.  If  young  men  would  emulate  his  example  in  this  respect, 
the  word  failure  would  seldom  be  written  over  their  business  lives. 

Subsequently  he  engaged  for  some  time   in  teaching  a  country  school ;  and  ha    is 


4  HISTORY  OP  FORT  WATNB. 

represented,  no  doubt,  truly,  as  having  been  a  vigorous  disciplinarian — an  exact, 
systematic,  and  thorough  instructor.  Indeed,  he  seems,  at  that  early  day,  to  have 
indicated  his  future  eminence  and  usefulness,  by  adopting  and  acting  upon,  that  hon- 
est but  homely  maxim  that  exerted  an  influence  so  marked  and  so  beneficial  on  all 
his  subsequent  career,  and  extended  up  to  the  hour  of  his  death  :  "  Whatever  you 
find  to  do,  do  it  with  all  your  might,"  or,  "Whatever  is  worth  doing,  is  worth  do- 
ing well." 

He  attendedthe  Indian  treaty  at  St.  Mary's,  in  1818,  in  the  character  of  a  sutler, 
or  purveyor,  in  connection  with  his  brother  Thomas,  furnishing  both  food  for  men 
and  provender  for  horses,  all  of  which  was  hauled  with  an  ox-team  from  Troy,  Ohio  ; 
he,  with  his  own  hands,  hewing  out  feed-troughs  for  the  stock.  By  this  operation 
he  realized  a  small  amount  of  money.  This  was  his  first  substantial  acquisition — 
the  corner-stone  upon  which  his  subsequent  colossal  fortune  was  reared.  Here,  too, 
his  purpose  was  formed  of  emigrating  to  Fort  Wayne,  where  he  was  destined  to 
act  so  conspicuous  and  important  a  part  in  developing  the  resorces  of  the  country 
and  building  up  a  city. 

Ha  arrived  here  in  1819,  when  he  was  in  his  twenty-second  year.  He  found  tho 
place  a  mere  Indian  trading-post,  with  very  few  white  inhabitants,  and  those  merely 
remnants  of  the  old  military  establishment.  Outside  of  the  "  Post''  and  its  immo- 
diate  vicinity,  there  were  no  white  settlers,  and  the  country  in  every  direction,  for 
hundreds  of  miles,  was  an  unbroken  wilderness,  swarming  with  the  red  men  of  the 
forest.  He  immediately  entered  upon  mercantile  pursuits  in  a  small  way,  at  what 
is  now  the  Northwest  corner  of  Columbia  and  Barr  streets.  The  town  was  not 
then  laid  out.  His  tirst  store-house  was  a  rude  log  cabin,  erected,  principally,  with 
his  own  hands.  This  primitive  structure  was  soon  superseded  by  a  story-and-a- 
half  frame  building,  and  that,  in  after  years,  by  a  substantial  brick  block  of  business 
houses.  These  are  still  retained  by  the  family  and  belong  to  the  sharer  ot  his  joys 
and  his  sorrows,  his  toils  and  his  "trials,  the  trusted  and  honored  companion  of  his 
youth,  his  manhood,  and  his  old  age,  and  who  yet  survives.  May  her  remaining 
days  be  many  among  the  living. 

Of  course,  at  that  early  day,  hischief  customers  were  Indians.  Indian  tradehas  always 
been  profitable,  even  when  conducted  honestly  and  justly,  as  is  universally  conceded 
it  always  was  by  this  young  trader.  It  may  here  be  remarked  that  Indian  traders,  as 
a  class,  have  mostly  been  regarded  as  about  the  worst  specimens  of  the  race  ;  being 
chiefly  intent,  by  the  baaest  arts,  upon  defrauding  the  ignorant  and  simple-minded 
children  of  the  forest  out  of  their  annuities,  or  whatever  little  property  they  might 
possess.  But  no  such  imputation  attaches  to  the  character  of  Mr.  Hanna.  By  a 
course  of  fair  and  honorable  dealing,  lirst  with  his  Indian  customer?,  and  then 
with  the  whites,  as  they  carne  into  the  country  and  the  Indians  receded,  he  acquired 
a  high  degree  of  regard  and  consideration  on  the  part  of  the  people  among  whom 
he  lived  so  many  years.  This  regard  and  consideration  went  on  increasing  in  vol- 
ume and  intensity  while  he  lived,  and  only  culminated  when  the  portals  of  the  tomb 
•hut  him  from  mortal  sight  forever. 

SAMUEL  HANNA' 8  splendid  fortune  was  not  acquired  by  defrauding  his  fellow-men , 
either  white  or  red;  but  by  great  business  sagacity,  the  most  indomitable  industry, 
and  rigid  economy.  These  three  qualities  he  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree.  Ho 
especially  claimed  credit  for  his  economy  during  the  early  stages  of  his  business 
career  ;  and  often  declared  that  he  never  expended  one  dollar  for  an;f  personal 
pleasure  or  luxury  until  he  was  worth  over  fifty  thousand.  How  many  young  men 
of  the  present  day  will  be  able  to  aay  this  when  they  are  old? 

From  his  first  settlement  at  Fort  Wayne,  Mr.  Hanna,  at  all  times,  and  on  all 
occasions,  evinced  a  strong  desire  to  build  up  the  town,  to  advance  its  material  in- 
terests in  every  way,  and  to  improve  and  develope  the  resources  of  the  country  ; 
and  though  not  inattentive  to  his  own  individual  interests,  the  cardinal  purpose  waa 
kept  steadily  in  view  during  his  whole  life.  In  all  meetings  of  the  people  for  tho 
promotion  of  public  improvements  or  public  welfare,  he  was  always  a  conspicuous 
and  leading  actor.  He  early  perceived  the  indispensible  necessity  of  opening  and 
improving  roads  and  other  facilities  for  travel  and  intercommunication;  but  to  fully 
appreciate  his  designs  in  this  respect,  it  may  be  necessary  to  revert  to  the  condition 
of  things  at  that  time. 

lias  already  been  remarked,  Fort  Wayne,  as  he  found  it,  was  situated  in  a 
*  removed  from  all  improvements.    Tke  country  around  afforded  HO 


SAMUEL  HANNA.  5 

supplies,  except  the  inconsiderable  amount  yielded  by  the  chase,  and  a  very  small 
quantity  of  corn  grown  on  the  bottoms  in  the  immediate  vicinity  by  the  occupants 
of  the  "  Post,"  or  Fort,  themselves.  The  chief  supply  of  provisions  or  provender, 
and  almost  every  necessary  of  life,  had  to  he  brought  from'a  distance;  mostly  from 
Miami  county,  Ohio,  by  way  of  St.  Mary:s;  being  transported  bv  wagons  to  the 
latter  place,  thence  to  Fort  "Wayne  by  flat-boats,  down  the  St.  Mary's  river.  The 
dangers  and  difficulties  that  attended  the  shipment  of  supplies  through  this  channel, 
can  scarcely  be  conceived  at  the  present  day.  Imagine  men  with  loaded  teams, 
struggling  through  swanaps  and  interminable  mud,  day  after  day,  lodging  in  the 
wilderness  by  night,  then  conceive  the  perils  of  boating  on  a  crooked,narrow  stream, 
through  dense  forests,  beset  with  fallen  timber  and  other  obstructions  in  its  wholo 
course.  Then  think  of  the  hardy  boatmen,  day  after  day,  standing  for  hours  waist 
deep  in  water,  cutting  away  the  fallen  trees  and  removing  them,  exposed  to  wet  and 
cold,  with  no  protection  but  the  scanty  garments  they  wore,  and  they  saturated 
with  water  for  days  in  succession.  Such  was  the  severity  of  the  service,  that  many 
persons  engaged  in  it  were  brought  to  a  premature  grave. 

The  facilities  for  obtaining  goods  were  little  or  no  better.  They  were,  mostly, 
purchased  in  New  York  or  Boston,  and  brought  up  the  Maumee  in  pirogues,  a 
most  laborious  task;  or  packed  through  the  wilderness  from  Detroit,  on  horses. 

When  it  is  considered  that  these  wore  the  best,  and  almost  the  only  sources  of 
supply,  at  that  early  day,  the  gigantic  difficulties  in  the  way  of  founding  and  build- 
ing a  city,  may  be  faintly  imagined  but  never  described,  nor  even  fully  appreciated 
nt  the  present  time.  Mr.  Hanna.  though  he  clearly  saw  and  deeply  felt  them 
nil  in  their  fullest  force,  was  by  no  means  discouraged  or  disheartened.  They  only 
excited  the  ardor  and  enthusiasm  of  his  indomitable  nature,  and  nerved  him  to  re- 
doubled effort  and  determination.  He  and  a  few  other  public  spirited  men,  who 
generally  followed  his  lead,  addressed  themselves  to  the  work  of  their  removal 
with  resolute  and  untiring  energy. 

The  fruits  of  their  noble  efforts  we  this  day  largely  enjoy.  Pause  for  a  moment 
anrl  contrast  the  present  Fort  Wayne  and  its  surroundings  with  the  Fort  "Wayne 
of  1819.  Then  but  few  people,  except  Indians,  no  schools,  no  churches,  no  improv- 
ed country,  no  town — not  even  a  laid-out  town  plat.  Now,  a  population  rapidly 
approaching  30,000;  a  well  cultivated,  densely  peopled,  wealthy,  productive  and 
prosperous  country  in  every  direction  ;  canals,  turnpikes,  railroads  and  other  facili- 
ties for  travel  and  transportation,  abound,  bringing  to  the  city  abundant  supplies 
of  produce,  goods,  building  material*,  and  whatever  may  conduce  to  the  comfort 
and  convenience  of  the  people  (giving  profitable  employment  to  many  of  them), 
or  add  material  prosperitj-  to  tho  place.  New  structures  are  springing  up  in  all 
directions  as  if  by  magic.  Temples  of  public  worship,  colleges  and  free  schools,  are 
being  erected  and  beautified.  Everything  indicates  thrift,  enterprise,  progress, 
and  prosperity.  Society  is  out  of  its  infancy,  and  is  rapidly  assuming  the  propor- 
tions of  a  giant. 

Wh.it  has  caused  this  wonderful  transformation? — this  bleak,  desolate,  and  savngo 
wilderness  1:to  blossom  as  the  rose,"  and  become,  in  this  short  period  of  time,  the 
habitation  of  a  great,  n  free,  a  powerful,  prosperous  and  magnanimous  people? 
Such  wonders  arc  not  visible  everywhere.  In  many  places,  even  in  this  favored 
land,  instead  of  the  rapid  advances  of  improvement",  we  see  evident  signs  of  stag- 
nation, of  decay  and  dilapidation.  Why  this  difference?  In  many  instances  tho 
country  lacked  those  enterprising  men  so  indispensable  to  lead  tht  masses,  and  in- 
spire them  with  energetic  effort,  to  direct  those  efforts,  when  aroused,  to  proper 
means  and  judicious  ends — in  short,  to  lend  a  powerful  helping  hand,  and  throw  in 
the  scale  a  heavy  purse,  when  other  resources  fail.  Society  needs  generals  in  civil 
life,  as  well  as  in  war.  SAMUKL  HAXHA  was  emphatically  a  general  in  civil  life. 
His  name  is  intimately  associated  mid  blended  with  every  period  in  the  history  of 
Fort  Wayne.  No  public  enterpise  of  importance  was  ever  undertaken  by  her  citi- 
zens without  his  concurrence  arid  aid.  In  truth,  it  would  be  impossible  to  writo 
the  history  of  Fort  Wayne,  without,  at  the  same  time,  writing  a  large  portion  of 
the  biography  of  SAMUEL  HAXNA.  His  vast  and  controling  influence  is  risible 
overv\vhore.  and  wns  potential  for  gc.rxl  wherever  it  extended. 

Soon  jtfter  commencing  operations  at  Fort  Way  no,  SAMI:  KI,  HANJTA  was  appo'.ixk! 
Agent  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  u  responsible  position,  which  ho  filled  for  a 
number  of  years  to  tho  entire  satisfaction  of  the  Company.  He  was,  also,  Associate 


6  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  was  repeatedly  elected,  at  that  early  period,  and.  in 
subsequent  years,  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature.  To  the  importance  of  some 
of  his  services  in  th«  latter  capacity,  allusion  will,  hereafter,  be  made.  As  his  means 
accumulated  he  extended  his  mercantile  operations  to  other  places,  particularly 
to  Lafayette,  where  he  was,  for  many  years,  concerned  in  a  large  house  with  his 
brother  Joseph  ;  and  to  Wabash,  where  he  was  connected  in  business  with  his  brother 
Hugh,  from  both  of  which  he  realized  large  returns.  He  became  an  extensive  land 
owner  in  the  Wabash  valley  and  elsewhere.  The  writer  well  remembers  having 
heard  him  remark,  upon  setting  out  for  Indianapolis,  in  1843,  that  he  could  go  by 
way  of  Lafayette  and  return  by  way  of  Andersontown,  and  feed  his  horse  at  his 
own  corn  crib  every  night  during  his  journey. 

The  American  people  have  been  informed  that  a  dim  foreshadowing  of  a  canal 
to  connect  Lako  Erie  with  the  Ohio  river,  was  entertained  by  Gen.  Washington  _ 
and  other  early  patriots  »nd  statesmen,  as  one  of  the  possibilities  of  the  far  future^ 
But  they  are  indebted  to  Judge  HAJTXA  for  the  first  practical  conception  of  tha 
magnificent  project.  It  was  in  a  familiar  conversation  with  the  late  David  Burr' 
in  a  little  summer-house  attached  to  his  then  residence,  at  the  northwest  corner 
of  Barr  and  Berry  streets,  that  he  first  broached  the  subject  of  a  canal  to  connect 
Lake  Eiie  with  the  Wabash  river,  to  that  gentleman.  It  struck  Mr.  Burr  favor- 
ably. He  was  a  scholarly  gentleman,  of  ability  and  influence,  well  and  respect- 
fully remembered  by  the  older  citizens  of  the  place.  The  two  frequently  consulted 
together  in  regard  to  this  important  matter,  and  partially  matured  a  plan  of  opera- 
tions. They  opened  correspondence  with  the  Indiana  Representatives  and  Senators 
in  Congress,  and  secured  their  favor  and  influence  for  the  great  undertaking.  These 
efforts  resulted,  in  1827,  in  a  grant  by  Congress  to  the  State  of  Indiana,  of  each 
alternate  section  of  land  for  six  miles  on  each  side  of  tho  proposed  line,  through  it* 
whole  length,  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  canal.  Strange  as  it  may  seem  at 
the  present  day,  a  powerful  opposition  to  the  acceptance  of  the  grant  by  the  State, 
was  organized  in  some  .parts  thereof,  and  Judge  HANNA  was  elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature as  the  especial  champion  of  the  canal  policy.  The  contest  was  ardent  and 
protracted,  but  resulted  in  the  acceptance  of  the  grant,  and  an  appropriation  of 
one  thousand  dollars  to  purchase  the  necessary  engineering  instruments  and  pro- 
cure the  survey  and  location  of  the  summit  level.  Judge  HAXNA,  David  Burr,  and 
a  Mr.  Jones  were  appointed  Canal  Commissioners.  Judge  HAJTNA  went  to  New 
York,  purchased  the  instruments,  and,  returning  by  way  of  Detroit,  packed  them  on 
horseback  from  that  city  to  Fort  Wayne.  Civil  Engineers  were  scarce  in  the 
West  lit  that  day,  but  the  commissioners  procured  one  and  immediately  entered 
upon  the  survey,  commencing  on  the  St.  Joseph  river,  six  miles  above  Fort  Wayne, 
where  the  feeder  -dam  was  afterwards  built,  Mr.  Burr  operating  as  rod-man  and 
Judge  HANNA  us  ax-man,  both  at  ten  dollars  per  month.  The  second  day  tha 
engineer  was  taken  sick  and  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  work,  Judge  HANNA 
and  Mr.  Burr,  alone,  continuing  and  completing  the  survey  of  tho -summit  feeder. 
They  made  their  report  to  the  succeeding  session  of  the  Legislature,  and  Judge 
HAKNA.  being  again  a  member,  secured  its  adoption,  and  the  pa«s»ge  of  an  Act 
authorizing  the  construction  of  the  W abash  and  Erie  Canal.  Thus  originated,  and 
was  inaugurated,  almost,  if  not  entirely,  through  the  untiring  energy,  the  indom- 
itable perseverance  of  these  two  noble  pioneers,  HANNA  and  Burr,  this  stupendous 
work  of  Internal  Improvement — th«  longest  continuous  line  of  artificial  water 
communication  on  the  American  continent;  if  not  in  the  world;  and  which  was  of 
•such  incalculable  value  to  Fort  Wayne  and  all  Northern  Indiana.  They  are  far, 
very  far,  in  advance  of  what  they  would  have  been,  had  there  been  no  Wabash 
and  Erie  Canal.  Indeed,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  they  [would  hardly  yut 
have  been  out  of  the  primeval  wilderness  without  that  great  work. 

Judge  HAXITA  w:is  Fund  Commissioner  for  several  years,  and  negotiated  for 
most  of  the  money  with  which  tho  work  was  carried  on. 

In  alluding  to  this  subject,  the  American  Railway  Review,  of  September  1st, 
1859,  says: 

"  Probably  no  one  contributed  more  to  the  success  of  the  canal  policy  (luring  the  tirnt 
«ud  trying  years  of  its  progress,  than  SAMUEL  H ANNA  of  Fort  Wayne.  From  1828  to  183(5, 
he  was<  successively  Canal  Commissioner  and  Fund  Commissioner,  besides  serving  three 
years  in  the  State  Senate  and  one  year  in  the  House)  reprefenting,  aa  Senator,  perhaps 
ou«-thir«l  the  entire  area  of  fho  State,  and  filling,  in  each  body,  tor- a  part  of  the  time, 


SAMUEL   HAXXA.  •  7 

the  post  of  Chairman  of  the  Canal  Committee.  In  these  official  stations  he  evinced  the 
same  judgment,  tact  and  force  of  character  which,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  after- 
wards, enabled  him  to  render  important  service  to  the  Northern  section  of  Indiana, 
the  enterprise  of  completing,  under  financial  difficulties,  such  as  would  have  discouraged 
men  less  courageous  in  assuming  pecuniary  responsibilities,  that  portion  of  the  Pittsburg, 
Fort  Wayne  <fe  Chicago  Railway  lying  west  of  Crestline." 

Perhaps  the  wisdom  and  ability  of  Judge  HANNA  were  nerer  more  strikingly 
displayed  in  any  single  act  of  his  life  than  in  the  establishment  and  organization  of 
the  State  Bank  of  Indiana.  When  the  derangement  of  the  currency  and  finan- 
cial embarrassment,  consequent  upon  the  veto  of  the  United  States  Bank  and  other 
kindred  measures  occurred,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  The  President 
had  recommended  the  creation  of  more  State  Banks  to  supply  the  circulation, 
retired  by  the  closing  of  that  institution.  Accordingly,  a  charter  was  introduced 
into  the  Indiana  Legislature  of  such  a  character  that  judge  HANKA  and  other 
judicious  members  thought  it  ought  not  to  pass.  He  opposed  its  passage  with  great 
power  and  ability,  and  was  principally  instrumental  in  defeating  it ;  but  it  was 
clearly  seen  that  a  charter  of  some  kind  would  pass  at  the  next  session.  A  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  prepare  a  proper  charter  during  the  vacation,  to  be  present- 
ed when  the  Legislature  again  convened.  Judge  HANXA  was  made  Chairman  of 
that  committee,  and  to  him  was  confided  the  duty  of  drafting  the  proposed  new 
charter.  How  well  he  performed  the  duty,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  it 
passed  both  houses  of  the  Legislature  almost  precisely  as  it  came  from  his  hand, 
within  a  few  days  after  their  coming  together,  and  was  approved  January  28th, 
1834.  Thus  was  created  the  State  Bank  of  Indiana,  by  common  consent,  one  of 
the  best  banking  institutions  that  has  ever  existed  in  this  country — an  institution 
that  continued  in  operation  twenty  years,  affording  the  people  a  safe  and  sound 
currency,  and  yielding  to  the  State*  a* large  accumulated  fund  at  its  close;  an  insti- 
tution that  exerted  a  marked  influence  on  the  subsequent  Bank  Legislation  of  many 
other  states.  No  one  ever  lost  a  dollar  by  the  State  Bank  of  Indiana. 

A  branch  was  at  once  established  at  Fort  Wayne,  of  which  Judge  HANNA  was 
President  much  of  the  time,  and  Hon.  Hugh  McCulloch,  present  Secretary  of  the 
United  States  Treasury,  Cashier,  during  the  whole  time  of  its  continuance.  The 
branches  of  this  institution  were  generally  well  and  discreetly  managed,  but  ac- 
cording to  a  unanimous  public  sentiment,  the  Fort  Wayne  Branch  was  managed 
with  pro-eminent  skill  and  ability. 

In  1836,  Judge  HAVXA  purchased  the  large  remaining  land  interest  of  Barr  and 
MeCorkle,  adjoining,  and  surrounding  the  then  plat  of  Fort  Wayne.  This  pur- 
chase, although  it  ultimately  proved  very  profitable,  for  many  years,  involved  him 
in  eerious  financial  embarrassments.  He  immediately  commenced  laying  off  and 
jelling  lots,  but  sales  for  some  time  were  not  rapid,  money  was  exceedingly  scarce, 
and  most  of  those  who  did  buy  were  unable  to  pay  when  their  liabilities  became 
due.  Meanwhile,  the  interest  on  his  large  purchase  had  to  be  paid  regularly. 
Moreover,  such  was  his  leniency  towards  his  debtors,  that  he  would,  and  did,  for 
years,  suiter  every  kind  of  inconvenience  and  pecuniary  sacrifice,  rather  than 
press  or  distress  them.  Multitudes  have  comfortable  homes  to-day,  iu  this,  city, 
who  are  indebted  for  them  to  the  kindness  and  forbearance  of  Judge  HAXXA.  It 
was  a  rule  with  him  never  to  urge  payment  of  any  one  who  kept  his  interest  paid 
up,  and  many  were  in  arrears  for  even  that  for  years  together,  without  being 
disturbed. 

In  1843,  an  outlet  for  produce  and  iin  inlet  for  people  were  opened  by  the  open- 
ing- of  the  canal  to  the  Liiki* ;  the  country  began  rapidly  to  -ettlu,  and  the  town  to 
improve.  The  sale  of  lots  was  greatly  augmented,  money  became  more  abundant, 
and  payments  more  ready.  Then  Judge  HANNA  MgaQ  to  reap  the  benefits  of  his 
Im/.virdous  purchase — to  enjuv  the  reward  of  his  years  of  toil  and  embarrassments, 
and  of  his  generous  forbearance  towards  his  poor  debtors.  "Hanua'a  Addition1' 
is  a  very  extensive  tind  important  part  of  the  present  city  of  Fort  Wayne. 

For  several  yeura  succeeding  1836,  Judge  HANNA  devoted  himself,  mainly,  to 
the  affairs  of  the  Fort  Wayne  ^Branch  Bank,  to  the  n:an;igem«nt  and  improvement 
of  his  estate,  and  to  the  enjoyment  of  his  domestic  and  social  relations ;  accepting, 
occasionally,  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  During  this  period,  his  pet 
project,  the  Wnbash  and  Erie  Oanal,  was  open  to  Tolodo.  working  wonders  in  the 
oeveloptment  of  both  town  and  country.  But  the  roads  leading  to  Fort  Wayne 


•wore  ia  a  wretched  condition  much  of  the  time,  and  their  improYcment  "became  a 
subject  of  vital  necessity.  The  question  as  to  how  the  desired  improvement  could 
be  effected  was  extensively  agitated.  About  this  time  the  building  of  plank  roads 
•was  coming  into  practice  in  some  of  the  eastern  states  and  in  Canada.  A  gentle- 
man of  this  county,  the  late  Jesse  Vermilyea,  visited  and  examined  some  of  them, 
taking  particular  note  of  the  manner  of  their  construction  and  reported  favorably. 
The  idea  was  seized  by  Judce  HANXA  with  aridity  and  acted  upon  with  his  accustomed 
promptness  and  energy.  lie  and  some  other  enterprising  gentlemen,  here  and  along 
the  line,  northward,  immediately  began  to  organize  the  Fort  Wayne  and  Lima  Plank 
Road  Company  and  procure  the  stock  subscriptions.  The  people  were  very  solicitous 
for  the  road,  but  they  were  generally  poor  in  money,  and  these  subscriptions  were 
almost  entirely  made  in  land,  goods,  labor,  &c.  About  all  the  money  used  in  building 
fifty  miles  of  this  road  was  borrowed  of  the  Branch  Bank,  on  the  credit  of  the  company ; 
and  this  was  expended  in  building  the  necessary  steam  saw-mills.  The  first  attempt 
to  let  contracts  proved  a  failure.  In  order  to  give  the  work  a  start,  Judge  HANHA 
took  the  first  ten  miles  north  of  Fort  "Wayne  and  went,  personally,  into  the  work; 
superintending,  directing,  and  with  his  own  hands  assisting  in  the  most  laborious 
operations.  Others  followed  his  example,  and  within  about  two  years  the  road  was 
completed  to  Ontario,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles — the  first  improvement  of  the  kind 
undertaken  and  completed  in  Northern  Indiana.  Other  bimilar  worka  followed  in 
quick  succession  leading  to  Fort  "Wayne,  among  which  was  the  Piqua  Plank  Road. 
In  the  construction  of  this,  as  in  that  of  the  Lima  road,  Judge  HAKNA  was  an  active 
and  leading  participant.  While  others  nobly  did  their  whole  duty,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  he  Avas  the  Hercules,  whose  shouldor  to  the  wheel  propelled  botk  of  those 
•works  onward  toward  completion. 

When  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Kailroad  reached  Crestline,  and  it  was  pro- 
posed to  extend  it  to  Fort  Wayne,  under  the  name  of  the  Ohio  and  Indiana  liuil- 
road,  Judge  HANNA  was  rendy  with  his  powerful  co-operation.  He  was  largely 
instrumental  in  inducing  the  people  of  Allen  county  to  vote  a  subscription  of  $100- 
000  to  its  capital  stock.  This  was  the  turning  point  of  the  great  enterprise  at  that 
time.  Without  this  timely  aid,  the  work  would  have  been  indefinitely  postponed, 
if  not  entirely  defeated.  The  project  was  strong  in  merit,  but  weak  in  funds.  It 
was  difficult  to  find  responsible  parties  who  were  willing  to  undertake  the  construc- 
tion of  the  work;  but  Judge  HANNA,  as  in  all  else,  was  equal  to  the  emergency. 
In  1852,  he,  in  connection  with  our  respected  fellow  citizen,  Pliny  Hoagland,  Esq., 
und  the  late  Hon.  Wm.  Mitchell,  took  the  whole  contract  from  Crestline  to  Fort 
Wayne,  132  miles,  and  immediately  entered  upon  the  prosecution  of  the  work. 
After  making  some  progress,  the  available  means  of  the  company  became  entirely 
exhausted,  and  the  work  was  suddenly  brought  to  a  stand-still.  A  meeting  of  the 
directors  was  called  at  Bucyrus ;  but  tho  prospect  presented  was  all  dark  and  dubi- 
ous. No  one  could  devise  the  ways  and  meaas  to  advance  a  step  in  the  work.  The 
case  looked  hopeless  and  desperate.  Dr.  Merriman,  the  President  of  the  company, 
a  most  amiable  and  estimable  gentleman,  resigned  in  despair  of  rendering  any  fur- 
ther service.  Judge  HAXSTA  was  immediately  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned 
by  his  resignation.  In  three  days  he  was  in  the  Kastern  cities,  pledging  his  indi- 
vidual credit  and  that  of  his  coadjutors,"  Hoagland  and  Mitchell,  for  funds.  Tliii 
effected,  without  delay,  he  hastened  to  Montreal  and  Quebec,  to  redeem  iron  that 
had  been  forfeited  for  non  payment  of  transportation.  In  this  he  was  successful. 
The  crisis  was  passed— light  was  ahead.  Werk  was  resumed.  The  Ohio  and  Indi- 
ana Railroad  was  again  making  progress,  and  in  November,  1854,  overcoming 
the  most  formidable  obstacles,  the  cars  from  Pittsburg  and  Philadelphia,  came  roll- 
ing into  Fort  Wayne,  waking  tho  echoes  of  the  wilderness  as  they  came,  and  bring- 
ing hilarious  joy  and  gladness  to  this  hitherto  isolated  community.  Then  "was 
the  town  all  a  jubilee  offcasts,"  festivity  and  exultation,  such  as  it  had  never  exhib- 
ited before,  and  possibly  may  nover  exhibit  again.  It  was  the  initial  line  of  :i 
iystem  of  railroads  that  ar«  destined,  at  no  distant  day,  to  radiate  from  Fort 
Wayne,  "like  the  spokes  from  the  hub  of  a  wheel.'' 

In  the  autumn  of  1852,  while  incumborod  with  the  building  and  financial  embar- 
rassments of  the  Ohio  and  Indiana  Railroad,  the  Fort  Wayno  and  Chicago  Rail- 
road company  was  organizt-.d,  and  Judge  HANNA  was  elwted  President.  ''Tho 
means  of  this  company  to  prosecute  the  work  rrcre  to  be  derived,  mainly,  from  the 


SAMUM.  HAHNA.  y 

sale  of  the  stock  and  bonds.  The  sto«k  subscriptions  which  were  paid  in  cash  into 
the  Treasury,  were  very  small — amounting,  perhaps,  in  all,  to  less  than  three  per 
cent,  on  the  final  cost  of  building  and  equiping  the  road  between  Fort  Wayne  and 
Chicago.  The  stock  subscriptions  were  paid,  mostly,  in  uncultivated  lands,  farms, 
town-lots,  and  labor  upon  the  roud.  A  large  portion  of  the  real  estate  thus  con- 
veyed to  the  company  in  payment  of  subscriptions  to  stock,  (orer  $1,000,000  in 
value, )  was  mortgaged  by  the  company  to  obtain  the  necessary  caih  means  to  pay 
for  grading  the  road-way."  Other  cash  means  had  to  be  derived  from  the  sale  of 
bonds  ;  and,  as  the  company  had  been  but  recently  organized,  with  but  little  or  no 
work  done  on  its  line  of  road,  of  cours«,  its  securities  met  with  no  ready  sale.  In 
the  face  of  these  discouraging  circumstances,  which  would  hare  overwhelmed  almost 
any  other  man.  Judge  HAXHA  went  resolutely  to  work  on  the  new  line.  He  was  thus, 
President  and  ckicf  manager  of  two  companies — both  without  money,  except  what 
hi?  own  exertions  provided — whose  united  lines  extended  from  Crestline  to  Chicago, 
a  distance  of  280  miles,  and  a  leading  contractor  for  the  construction  of  one  of  them. 
Instead  of  being  overcome  or  depressed  by  this  immense  responsibility ;  instead  of 
fainting  or  faltering  under  the  load  that  would  have  crushed  most  other  men,  he 
was  fully  up  to  the  occasion.  The  difficulties  that  surrounded  him  only  nerved  him 
to  the  exertion  of  his  great  powers.  The  brightness  of  his  true  character  never 
blazed  eut  in  fuller  effulgence.  The  greater  the  pressure,  the  greater  was  alwaya 
his  resources,  and  the  greater  the  elasticity  of  his  nature. 

Under  such  adverse  circumstances,  as  above  alluded  to,  it  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  the  work  would  progress  with  great  rapidity.  The  Pennsylvania  Central  Kail- 
road  Company  extended  a  little  assistance  to  the  new  enterprise,  but  not  sufficient 
to  effect  any  very  decided  result.  In  the  beginning  of  1856,  however,  the  c.vs  wero 
running  to  Columbia  City,  and  considerable  grading  had  been  done  between  that 
to\vu  and  Plymouth,  a  distance  of  45  miles  further  west. 

During  that  year,  it  became  apparent  to  many  of  the  stockholders,  as  woJl  as 
managers  of  the  separate  corporations,  extending  from  Pittsburg  to  Chicago,  and 
which,  in  fact,  for  all  practical  and  business  purposes,  formed  but  one  line,  that  the 
utcrcsts  and  convenience  of  each,  as  well  as  of  the  public,  would  be  promoted  by 
merging  their  seperate  existence  into  one  great  consolidated  company.  Judge  HAXXA 
early  and  earnestly  espoused  the  cause  of  consolidation,  and  a  meeting  was  called  at 
Port  Wayne  to  consider  and  act  upon  the  subject.  Contrary  to  expectation,  consid- 
erable opposition  to  the  projected  consolidation  manifested  itself  at  this  meeting, 
headed  nnd  managed  by  the  shrewd  and  talented  Charles  L.  Boalt,  encouraged  and 
fts»i»ted  by  others  hardly  less  astute.  The  debate  was  animated  and  exciting.  Tho 
best  talent  on  both  sides  was  warmly  enlisted.  The  contest  «xtend«d  to  considerable 
length,  and  its  issu6  appeared  doubtful.  Before  the  debate  closed,  Judge  HAXNA 
rose  for  a  final  appeal  Xo  one  who  heard  that  brief  effort  will  forget  it.  It  was 
a  condensed  array  of  facts  and  arguments — a  splendid  out-burst  of  burning,  earnest 
eloquence.  The  opposition  was  literally  crushed  out.  The  vote  resulted  in  a  large 
majority  for  consolidation — many  who  had  opposed  it  in  the  beginning,  voting  in  its 
favor.  Thus,  on  the  first  day  of  August,  1856,  the  three  minor  corporations  were 
obliterated  on  terms  satisfactory  to  themselves,  and  the  great  Pittsburg,  Fort 
Wayne,  and  Chicago  Railroad  Company  succeeded  to  their  franchises  and 
liabilities. 

The  Hon.  G.  W.  Cass  was  elected  President,  and  Judge  HAICWA  Vice  President 
of  the  consolidated  company  ;  the  former  holding  the  position  until  the  present  day, 
and  the  latter  until  his  decease.  Out  of  respect  to  the  m«m»ry  of  the  late  incumbent, 
the  vacancy  has  never  since  been  filled. 

The  new   arrangement   infused   new  life  and  energy   into   the   work.     Jesse  L. 
"Williams,  Esq.,  was  appointed  Chief  Engineer,  and  mufer  his  vigorous  nmiin^cnn-nt, 
in  November,  9.  little  over  three  jnonths  after  the  consolidation,  the  road  was  open 
in  Plymouth,  sixty-six  miles  west  of  Fort  Wayne.     That  section  of  the  Cincinnati, 
Pen;,  and  Chicago  Railroad,  extending  from  Plymouth  to  La  Porte,  and  there  con- 
necting with  tho"  Southern  Michigan  and  Northern  Indiana  Rf.il rond,  was  opened 
for  l'\:.-i;:ess  about  the  same  time  ;  tb.ua  giving,  by  the  aid  of  two  other  lines,  :i  through 
route  from  Pitialuirir  to  Chicago.    The  idea  wn.-  conoeiveJ,  .vv.!  irn:!'".i  .v>i;: 
of  permitting    tin1  we-lrni  t«:nnim;s  of  the  Pitt.-burg,  Fort    Wayn«.    nnd    C'< 
Road  to  rest"  at  Plymouth  for  a  while,  perhaps  indefinitely;  HIM  of  rmcninjr  Chi- 


10  HISTORY  OF  FOKT  WATNJL 

c*go  oTer  the  two  other  routes,  by  way  of  La  Porte.  This  plan  Judge 
opposed  with  even  more  than  his  usual'vigor  and  ability,  and  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  defeating  it.  Nothing  less  than  a  direct,  independent  line — the  company's 
own  line — would  satisfy  him.  As  the  round-about  arrangement,  upon  trial,  proved 
disadvantageous  to  the  company,  it  was  abandoned,  and  the.diroct  line  pushed  for- 
ward to  an  early  completion. 

While  Judge  HAWNA  would  never  yield  an  iota  of  the  interests  of  the  company 
to  any  outside  consideration,  ho  was  not  unmindful  of  the  interest*  of  Fort  Wayne, 
nor,  perhaps,  of  his  own  individual  interests.  When  those  of  the  company  could 
be  as  well,  or  better,  subserved  at  Fort  Wayne  than  elsewhere,  he  preferred  Fort 
Wayne.  Hence  his  untiring  efforts  for  the  establishment  and  building  up,  here,  of 
the  immense  repair  shops  and  manufactories  that  constitute  so  important  a  feature 
of  Fort  Wayne. 

To  him  are  we,  mainly,  if  not  entirely,  indebted  for  the  incalculable  benefit  derived 
from  their  location  here.  His  sagacity  foresaw  their  importance  from  the 
beginning,  and  he  never,  for  a  moment,  lost  sight  of  it.  He  had  the  aid  and  co-opera- 
tion of  other  able  and  influential  men,  but  lie  had  to  encounter  the  determined 
opposition  of  others  equally  able  and  influential.  Those  who  are  familiar  with  the 
proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  from  the  time  of  the  consolidation,  onward, 
know  with  what  persistent  industry  and  faithfulness  he  pursued  this  cherishod  object. 
Sometimes  he  advanced  towards  it  by  direct  approaches — sometimes  by  strategy,  or 
a  "flank  movement" — but  he  always  advanced,  never  receded.  Success  was  the 
work  of  years,  but  success  was  achieved  at  last,  and  the  people  of  this  city  are  now 
enjoying,  and  always  will  enjoy  the  fruits  of  those  enduring,  persevering,  effective 
exertions  for  their  benefit,  that  were  silently,  steadfastly  prosecuted  all  those  years, 
and  of  which  few  of  them  were  aware  until  the  work  was  consummated.  Judge 
HANNA,  by  his  wisdom,  his  moderation,  his  prudence,  his  conciliatory  manners, 
possessed  a  standing,  and  exerted  an  influence  in,  the  Board  of  Directors,  equalled 
by  few  and  surpassed  by  none;  and  now,  that  ha  has  ceased  from  his  labors  and 
gone  to  his  reward,  it  is  no  disparagement  to  the  other  distinguished  gentlemen 
who  composed  that  Board,  nor  evidence  of  undue  partiality  on  the  part  of  his 
friends,  when  they  regard  him  as  having  been  "the  noblest  Eoman  of  them  all.'' 

On  the  12th  day  of  June,  1866,  the  day  after  the  death  of  Judge  HAJTNA,  a 
meeting  of  condolence  w»s  held  at  the  Court  House  by  the  citizens  of  Fort  Wayno  , 
and  addressed  by  Hon.  Joseph  K.  Edgerton.  At  the  risk  of  some  repetition, 
the  following  truthful  and  eloquent  passages  are  extracted  from  his  address  on  that 
occasion  •  *  *  *  *  * 

#  *»•*»#»»»# 

"  When  I  first  knew  Judge  II  AX*  A.  he  was  a  largo  town  proprietor  in  Fort  Wayne,  and  a  largo  Reel 
Estate  owner  in  Allen  county — reputed  rich  in  property,  but  poor  in  money — and  all  the  powers  of  his 
mind  nud  body  seemed  identified  with  and  concentrated  on  the  developement  of  his  county,  and  the 
building  up  of 'Fort  Wayne.  He  had  before  been  an  active  coadjutor  in  the  construction  of  the  Wabash 
and  Erie  Canal,  and, as  one  of  the  Fund  Commissioners  of  Indiana,  h»d  in  part  borne  well  th»  heavy 
burden  of  managing  the  finances  of  the  State,  during  the  darkest  period  of  its  financial  history. 

The  Wabash  and  Erie  Canal,  upon  which  great  hopes  had  been  based,  had  not  realized  those  hopes. 
It  had  done  much,  but  not  nil  that  was  required,  for  the  material  developemeut  of  tht»  Wabash  Valley. 
It  had  helped  Fort  Wayne  to  grow  from  an  Indian  frontier  trading  post,  to  a  thriving  county  town  of 
some  2,0<>0 or  3,000 people— but  with  the  projection  and  construction  of  Railroads  on  the  North  and  South 
of  us,  drawing  to  thorn  the  movement  of  mon  to  the  Northwest,  Fort  Waynu  and  Northern  Indiana 
w«re  parsed  by,  and  it  plainly  wra*  not  in  the  power  of  the  Wabash  and  Erie  ('anal  to  save  Fort  Wayne 
from  impending  stagnation .  No  man  more  clearly  saw  this  than  did  Judge  UAXKA,  nor  was  mor«  active 
and  able  in  effort  than  he  to  avoid  the  impending  evil. 

A  section  of  country  so  thinly  peopled  and  so*  poor  in  money  a,s  ours  wa«  then,  was  not  able  to  build 
rnilroads,  and  at  first  but  little  bOpewM  fell,  or  effort  made  in  that  direction.  Plank-roads,  then  a  new 
and  popular  mode  of  public  improvement — the  materials  and  means  for  which  were  in  our  power — 
were  first  looked  to,  to  supply  the  growing  want  of  wisy  transportation,  and  to  them.  Judge  HANKA, 
chief  among  our  citi/e>is,  directed  his  energies.  He  was  a  projector  and  active  and  leading  worker  in 
the  Fort  Wayfte  and  Lima  Plank  Road  and  in  the  Piqua  Pl;»nk  Road,  two  projects  by  which  Fort  Wayno 
sought  to  draw  to  itself  a  large  Northern  and  Southern  trado  naturally  belonging  to  it.  Citizens  of 
sixteen  or  eighteen  years  residence  hero,  all  know  how  faithfully  Judgn  HANNA  worked  to  build  plank 
roads.  With  the  efficient  co-opsration  of  Wm.  Mitchell,  Drusu*  \icholi  and  other  public  spirited  citi- 
zens in  and  out  of  Fort  Wayne,  the  Lima  Plank  Road,  fifty  miles  long,  was  built,  antt  this  soon  le.l  tn 
the  construction  of  theBlun'ton,  and,  in  part,  the  Columbia,  the  Goshen  and  the  Piqu*  plank  roads,  all 
of  which  did  their  part  and  much,  to  advance  tke  growth  and  prosperity  of  Fort  Wayne. 

Judgf>iHANNA  not  only  planned  and  worked  with  his  head,  but  with  hid  hands  also,  in  building  th« 
Lima  1'lank  Road.  He.  was  one  of  the  contractors  on  that  work,  and  I  well  remember  seeing  him  on 
on*  occasion,  with  ax  in  hand,  superintending  th<>  work  and  showing  the  workman  how  to  lay  the  plank 

Plank  roads  hwd  thoir  day— they  wore  poor  substitutes  for  the  iron  way,  and  tho  locomotiro  power  o 
gteam. 


MAAXA.  11 

When"that|grand  national  line  of  railway,  which  is  now  the  pride  and  strength  of  Fort  Wayne.  »«nd 
with  which  hi*  name  is  forever  identified,  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago'Railway,?  was  nr-t 
projected, — beginning  with  the  section  from  Pittsburg  to"  Massillon,"  thence  from  MMfMloa  WlOrMtUa«i 
thence  from  Crestline  to  Fort  Wayne,  and  Anally  developing  in  the  grand  idea  of  a  consolidated  contin- 
uous line  of  railway  from  PitUbnrg  to  Chicago—  Judge  HANNA  was  among  the  first  to  see,  to  appreciate, 
and  to  take  hold  of  th»  golden  enterprise,  that  was,  in  ten  years  time,  to  bring  up  Fort  Wayne  from 
thejcondition  »of  anfinnignificant  county  town,  to  rank  and  dignity  among  the  first  commercial 
ami  manufacturing  town*  of  Indiana  ;  and  not  only  to  do  that,  hut  to  make  hundreds  of  miles  of  before 
wilderness  country,  to  bear  their  golden  grain,  and  to  dot  them  over  with  thriving,  busy  towns  and 
Tillages. 

BjJudge  H»»!»A  early  became  identified  with  the  Ohio  and  Indiana  Railroad— the  middle  section  be- 
tween Crestline  and  Fort  Wayne — of  what  is  now  the  Pittsburg,  Foit  Wayne  &  Chicago  road — on  which 
work  was  commenced  in  the  Spring  of  ifcftfi.  He  wan  greatly  instrumental"^  procuring  the  Indiana  char- 
ter for  this  road,  and  the  Allen  County,  Indiana,  subscription  of  $  lUO.OOO,  and  other  county  subscriptions 
in  Ohio  to  aid  in  its  construction.  In  5852  he  succeeded  Dr.  Msrriman  as  President  of  the  ro'ad,  and  l>ecam« 
emphatically  its  leading  spirit.  In  September,  1853,  h*  was  made  first  President  of  the  Fort  Wayno  and 
Chicago  Kailroad  Company,  on  its  organization  at  Warsaw.  From  that  time  until  the  reorganization 
of  the  Pittsburg,  Furt  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railway  Company  in  ISOl-tVJ.  no  man  hold  a  more  important 
position,  or  took  a  more  active  or  influential  part  in  the  completion  and  management  of  that  line  of 
,.ailway  than  did  Judge  HANXA.  II in  labor  and  devotion  in  the  work  were  unceasing. 

It  was  my  fortune  to  be  intimately  associated  with  Judge  HANSA  in  active  railroad  management  from 
IS.Hito  the  close  of  1860.'^I  had  abundant  opportunity  of  knowing  his  «seal,  his  ability,  his  devotion,  his 
untiring  labor  in  th»  great  work  on  -which  he  had  built  his  hopes  of  fortune  and  a  public  name.  The 
powerful  corporation,  now  so  strong  and  prosperous,  measuring  its  annual  income,  by  well-nigh  half  a 
score  of  millions  of  dollars,  know  in  its  early  history,  both  before  and  after  the  consolidation,  many  dam 
and  gloomy  hours.  From  the  Fall  of  1854  to  the  olose  of  1860,  it  passed  through  a  fearful  struggle,  not 
only  for  th«  completion  of  its  work,  but  for  its  own  corporate  and  financial  life.  The  financial  disas- 
ters of  1857  found  the  consolidated  company  with  an  incomplete  road,  with  meagre  revenues,  and  a 
broken  credit.  Many  of  its  best  friends,  even  among  its  own  managers,  were  inclined  to  grow  weary 
•*ud  to  faint  by  tho  way.  Through  all  this  trying  period  no  man  worked  more  faithfully  and  hopefully, 
or  was  consulted  more  freely,  or  leaned  upon  with  more  confidence,  than  was  Judge  HANHA.  He  was 
a  tower  of  itrength  to  an  almost  ruined  enterprise.  He  was  at  brief  times  gloomy  and  desponding,  but 
he  was  a  man  of  large  hope,  and  a  robust,  physical  organization,  that  eminently  fittted  him  to  stand  up 
and  toil  on  to  a  successful  end.  II  think  I  may  truly  say,  that  DO  man  who  has  ev«r  been  connected  with 
the  management  of  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railroad  has  had  a  larger  share  of  confi- 
dence of  all  interested  in  it  thiin  Judg"  HAWSA  possessed.  I  have  seen  him  in  all  phases  of  the  com- 
pany's affairs,  and  in  the  midst  of  negotiations  involving  the  most  vital  int>  rests  in  Chicago,  Cleveland, 
Pittsbnrg,  Philadelphia,  and  Xew  York.  Surrounded  by  the  most  sagacious  financiers,  and  railway 
men  of  the  country,  »uch  men  as  J.  F.  P.  L.uiicr.  Richard  II.  Winslow,  John  Ferguson.  Charles  Moran, 
J.  Edgar  Thomson,  Wm.  B.  Ogdeu,  George  W.  Cass,  Ania-a  Stone,  there  was  in  Judge  Hiinmi,  a  weight  of 
character,  a  native  sagacity  and  far-seeing  judgment,  and  a  fidelity  of  purpose  to  the  public  trust  he  rep- 
resented, that  commanded  the  respect  of  all,  and  made  him  the  peer  of  the  aM».n  of  them. 

;If  I  were  to  attempt'to  define  most  clearly  Judgo  Hanna'f  position  and  influence  in  the  management 
of  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Hail  road,  I  would  say  that  he  was  especially  the  advocate 
and  guardian  of  the  local  inUreits  of  the  road.  He  was  ever  watchful  for  the  homo  stock-holder*,  tho 
Jociil  trade,  tho  rights  and  interests  of  the  towns  and  counties  on  the  railway,  and  the  rights  mid  int"n-«ts 
of  tho  men  who  worked  on  the  road.  In  those  dark  day .•.,  when  the  company  could  not.  or  did  not,  always 
pay  its  men,  and  suffering  .tad  strikes  were  impending,  J.idge  Hiinmi  sympathized  with,  and  did  all  Im 
could  tor,  the  men  on  the  road  who  earned  their  daily  bread  by  the,  work  of  their  hands  and  the  sweat 
of  iheir  brows. 

.ludg"  Hannt*  lived  t<>  HPO  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Hailroad  a  completed  and  emi- 
ii.'ntlv  successful  public  work.  He  lived  to  see  Fort  Wayne,  the  city  of  his  love,  to  which  h<-  came  w.V.-n 
it  wi*  but  a  trading  post,  with  no  town  or  even  post  office  between  it  and  Chicago,  grown  to  a  large 
and  prosperous  city.  He  lived  to  reap,  as  he  deserved,  large  pecuniary  rewards  lor  his  yoars  of  toil  and 
risk  and  Belf-denini.  He  died  peacefully  in  his  own  home,  surrounded  by  the  evidences  <,f  the  material 
Drosperitv  he  had  aided  to  promote. 

In  our  cnmeterv  of  Lindenwood,  there  it  a  beautiful  monument,  which  Judge  Hanna's  own  fore- 
run and  good  taste  have  already  erected  to  his  memory.  It  will  ever  be  looked  on  with  interest,  but. 
Snmu'ol  Banna  has  a  grander  and  more  lasting  iin-.iunvut  in  Fort  Wayne  it-elf.  Of  him  mar  well 
),••  rriid  here  whtif  is  inscribed  upon  a  marbli  tablet  over  the  entrance  to  the  choir  in  St.  Paul's 
<>t'hedral  in  London.,  to  the  memory  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  its  architect,  '.Si  Munxnuinium  rnjuirii 

C'(JnT«ark«d  feature  of  Judge  Hunna's  character  wan  hi«  untiri;i-  energy.     It  was  not  in  his  nature 


th°  will  of  God.  to  die  ere  he  deemed   to  have  rounded  the  full  sphere  of  his   QM 


Jt,   B(.'li-iuu'i(--  iiio-ii.       •»'    •••«.••  BWW  t  *f    i     nr 

in   the  scholastic  sense  of  the  term.     Mis  teacher  wa?  the  experience  of  an  active  and  aveutl 
Ho  was  eminentlv  o  man  of  affairs,— a  practical  man— not  a  man  of  minutn-  or  detail -not  a  particularly 
urderlv   or  svtematic .man,   but  one  of  a  lar^e,  clear  mind,  and  of   Indomitable  purpose,  gruplllfr  i 
great  powor"  th^saliont  points  and  bo»ring  andond  of  a  public  question,  aud  moving  towards  it,  if 


12  HISTORY  OP  FORT  WAYNE. 

.•UwflY*  rnpidiy  or  jtrnrpfully,  yet  strongly  and  surely.  While  Jndgo  Hauna  wa«  not  a  sch«lar,  lie  was  n 
groat  reader,  ami  had  learned  much  from  books,  as  well  as  from  m«n  and  things,  and  if  without  the 
aptitude  or  grains  to  product)  what  was  elegant  in  literature  or  in  art,  he  was  an  intelligent  admirer  and 
judge  of  both. 

Judge  Banna  belonged  to  the  higher  type  of  the  pioneer  class  of  men.  He  was  a  planter  Jand  builder, 
more  than  a  legislator.  He  had  the  hope,  the  courage,  tin-  forethought,  the  fertility  of  resource,  the  uu- 
iHltcriiigj  purpose  unit  will  thnl  characterise  the  planters  of  colonies  and  founders  of  cities.  He  wan  a 
line  type  of  many  of  the  unlearned,  but  nevertheless  wise  and  able  men  who  were  the  pioneers  of  the  north- 
west. With  highelementM  of  statesmanship  in  his  nature,  he  was  not  altogether  adapted  for  legislative 
or  even  administrative  statesmanship.  He  had  rarely  sought  for  or  held  political  office.  He  was  not  a 
politician,  lie  moved  in  a  higher  sphere  of  life.  It  has  been  said  of  Manasseh  Cutler,  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  Ohio,  'He  was  more  than  a  statesman,  he  was  the  founder  .of  a  State.  In  the  covered  wagon  in 
which  ho  left  his  Tillage  home  in  Massachusetts  to  found  Marietta,  the  imperial  State  of  Ohio  was  wrap- 
ped up.'  The  same  sentiment  may  be  applied  to  Judge  llanna.  lie  was  more  than  a  statesman,  for  h» 
had  in  him  the  elements  and  powers  of  the  men  who  build  cities  and  found  States. 

With  all  his  mental  strength,  and  public  usefulness,  it  was  perhaps  in  his  domestic  life  and  social 
relations  that  JJudgs  Hanna  appeared  to  the  best  advantage.  I  have  never  heard  a  whisper  against 
the  purity  of  his  private  morals.  He  was"  a  temperate,  well  controlled  man.  He  was  the  klo]  of  hi* 
family.  He  wag  of  a  genial,  social  nature,  full  at  times  of  H quaint,  homely,  simple  humor,  that  had 
about  it  the  freshness  of  childhood.  He  loved  his  children  and  his  grandchildren,  and  children  and 
young  folks  generally.  He  was  pleased  to  have  them  with  him  and  around  him.  In  the  gallery  of  our 
accomplished  young  artist,  Mr.  J.  A.  Shoaff,  I  have  lately  seen  the  stereoscopic  views  of  Judge  flanua'* 
homestead,  himself,  and  his  household.  They  will  remain  as  vivid  pictures,  not  O7ily  of  the  person, 
but  of  the  habits  and  character  of  the  man.  Among  the  pleasing  mementoes  that  will  remain  of  him. 
none  can  be  more  pleasing  than  these  miniature  scenes,  portraying  Judge  Hanna,  the  strong  and 
earnest  worker  through  a  life  of  public  care,  as  a  pleased  spectator  and  actor  in  the  scenes  of  his 
own  home. 

When  such  men  as  Judge  Hiinna  die,  not  only  the  public  heart  is  filled  with  Badness  ami  an 
abiding  souse  of  loss,  but  there  is  within  the  sanctuary  of  his  own  household  a  depth  of  ecu-row 
that  cannot  ha  fathomed." 

Judge  HANWA  accepted  the  Presidency  of  the  Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana  Kail- 
road  Company,  to  which  Mr.  Edgerton  alludes  in  the  foregoing  passages,  with 
extreme  reluctance.  He  seemed  to  have  a  foreboding  that  his  life's  work  wasdraw- 
ing  to  a  close.  The  position  had  been  strongly  urged  upon  him,  but  he  had  stead- 
ilydeclined  it.  When  he  was  about  leaving  home  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  direc- 
tors at  Grand  Kapids,  less  than  two  months  before  his  decease,  the  remark  was  made 
to  him  that  he  Would  return  President  of  the  Company.  He  replied  "  No,  that  can- 
not be,"  and  added  with  a  mournful  cadence,  "the  responsibility  is  too  great,  I  can 
not  accept  it.''  The  result  showed,  that  although  a  man  may  bo  a  ruiar  among  men, 
he  cannot  always  govern  his  own  actions.  He  returned  President  of  the  Company. 
His  desire  for  the  success  of  the  road,  and  the  benefits  its  construction  would  confer 
upon  a  city  whose  interests  he  had  cherished  and  fostered  for  a  life-time,  overcame 
any  objections  he  had  entertained  to  accept  the  laborious  and  responsible  position. 
Judge  HANXA'S  efforts  for  the  improvement  of  both  town  and  country,  were  not 
confined  to  those  of  a  public  nature,  but  his  means  were  always  freely  advanced  for 
the  promotion  and  encouragement  of  private  and  individual  enterprise.  The  Woolen 
Factory  of  French,  Hanna  &  Co.,  the  extensive  Foundry  and  Machine  Shops  of 
Bass  &  Hanna,  and  the  largo  Hub,  Spoke  and  Bending  Factory  of  Olds,  Hanna 
&  Co.,  may  be  cited  as  the  Inter  instances  of  the  kind,  and  attest  his  liberality  in 
this  regard.  They  were  all  essentially  aided  in  their  earlier  stages,  by  the  use  of 
his  capital. 

With  the  utmost  charity  and  good-will  towards  all  Christian  denominations,  Judge 
Hanna' s  "  religious  training  was  in  the  faith  and  spirit  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
of  which  his  father  was  an  cldei  for  some  fifty  years."  The  organization  of  the 
first  Presbyterian  Church  at  Fort  Wayne,  in  1831,  had  his  cordial  co-operation  and 
support,  although  he  did  not  become  a  member  until  1843  ;  soon  after  which  he  was 
chosen  a  Killing  Elder,  a  position  which  ho  retained  during  the  remainder  of  his 
life. 

Upon  the  announcement  of  his  death,  in  addition  to  the  meeting  of  condolence, 
before  alluded  to,  and  other  manifestations  of  public  grief  and  sorrow,  the  Common 
Council  of  the  City  convened  and  unanimously  adopted  an  appropriate  preamble, 
and  the  following  resolution!,  as  expressive  of  the  universal  bereavement  that  por- 
v tided  the  whole  community  : 

lietolvetl  That  the  Mayor  and  Common  fiouuci!  of  the  city  of  Tort  Wayne  h:;ve  received,  with  the 
deepest  sensibility,  tliejanuoiincement  of  the  deaih.of  imr  gre.it  and  good  fellow-citizen,  lion.  SAMUBL 

Hi.N.NA. 

/.V.so.'ivJ,   Th:it,  as   a  mark   of  our  respect  and  estecJU  to  the  memory  of  him  we   mourn,    tlu>  Mayor, 
Common  .Council  and  oflu-ors  of  the  city  attend  i;i  a  body  the  funeral  obnequie-i.  und  that  the  nuinii:i;>:il 
lli'-ei    be  closed  for  business  during  the  fuueral. 
Itetohed,  That  to  ths  widow  and  family  now  borno  down  by  the  weight  uf  this  nflliction,  wo  tender  oiir 

. 


SAMUEL  HANXA.  13 

heartfelt  sympathies  and  condolence,  together  with  the  assurance  that  we  share  with  them  their  sorrow 
pud  thi-ir  te;>r*. 

Kf.folrtd,  That  these  proceedings  bo  *]>roiul  upon  the  minutes  of  th^  Common  fonndl  ;  that  a  copy  of 
tin-  sain:-  lie  furnished  tho  daily  pipers  of  the  rity  for  publication,  and  the  City  Clerk  t>  •  dir-'otod  to  trans- 
mit to  the  bereaved  family  n  certified  copy  thareof,  and  that  the  citizens,  in  nkoordands  with  the  procla- 
liiiition  of  the  Mayor  Iw  requested  to  close  all  place*  of  business  between  the  hours  of  two  ami  four  o'clock 
.«>;;  to-morrow  afternoon. 

lletolcnl.  That,  a."  a  further  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  lamented  dead,  the  Council  do  now 
adjourn  for  one  week . 

The  last  illness  of  Judge  HAXXA  was  of  brief  duration.  He  was  taken  ill  on 
Wednesday,  June  6th,  1866;  on  Thursday  his  case  was  regarded  a*  dangerous;  on 
Friday  he  was  partially  relieved,  and  on  Saturday  ho  was  decidedly  better,  so  much 
so  that  he  was  up  a  portion  of  the  day  and  walked  about  the  house.  But  during 
Saturday  night  ha  was  seized  with  a  violent  relapse,  soon  succeeded  by  uncon- 
sciousness wliich  continued  until  Monday  A.  M.,  the  llth,  whan  the  community 
was  startled  and  shocked  by  the  intelligence,  which  flashed  over  the  city  with  electric 
rapidity,  that  Judge  HANXA  was  dead,  jfo  other  event  has  caused  so  universal  n 
gloorn  and  sadness.  Every  one  had  lost  a  friend,  and  every  one  was  in  mourning. 

The  funeral  took  place  on  "Wednesday,  June  13th.  The  arrangement*  were  undor 
the  charge  and  direction  of  the  Masonic  Fraternity,  of  which  Judge  HAXJTA  had 
long  been  a  consistent  and  honored  member.  A  discourse  was  pronounced  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  of  Warsaw.  The  attendance  Avas,  undoubtedly,  by  far  the 
largest  ever  witnessed,  on  a  funeral  occasion,  in  Northern  Indiana.  It  was,  in  fact, 
a  spontaneous  outpouring  of  the  whole  people.  The  procession  extended  from  the 
Court  House  to  the  Cemetery,  a  distance  of  nearly  two  miles,  while  the  street  for 
almost  the  whole  distance  was  lined  with  thousands  of  spectators.  The  bells  of  all 
the  city  churches  tolled  their  sad  notes  simultaneously.  All  business  was  suspended 
in  accordance  with  the  resolution  of  the  Common  Council.  Many  houses  were 
draped  in  mourning,  and  a  deep  sorrow  pervaded  the  minds  of  the  whole  people. 
The  Railroad  shops  and  buildings,  if  not,  literally,  the  works  of  his  hands,  the 
emanation  of  his  fertile  mind  and  effective  purpose,  were  gracefully  festooned  with 
evergreens,  wreathed  into  ingenious  and  tasteful  devices,  among  which  were  in- 
wrought, in  large  evergreen  letters, 

SAMUEL  HAKNA,  THE    WORKING-MAITS   FRIEND. 

Every  man  in  and  about  those  shops  and  buildings  knew  him  AS  a  friend  and  loved 
him  as  a  father. 

In  contemplating  the  many  estimable  qualities  of  Judge  HANNA,  integrity  and 
industry  appear  as  prominent  characteristics — an  integrity  that  no  personal 
or  other  consideration  could  swerve,  and  an  industry  that  knew  no  rest  while  any- 
thing remained  undone.  When  a  given  task  was  accomplished,  he  would  throw  oft* 
all  care  and  become  cheerful,  even  mirthful — a  rich  vein  of  mirthfulness  permeating 
his  whole  nature — -or  he  would  retire  to  his  home  and  devote  himself  to  domostic 
and  social  enjoyments,  for  which  he  had  the  keenest  zeat  and  relish.  Hi§  temper 
was  calm  and  equable,  seldom  aroused,  even  under  severe  provocation,  but  when  it 
wm  aroused,  it  was  swift  and  terrible.  His  manners  were  emphatically,  those  of  tho 
old  school  gentlemen — plain,  simple,  dignitied — despising  sham  and  pretense  of  all 
kinds.  Passing  the  early  part  of  his  life  on  tho  frontiers,  and  his  whole  life  in  the 
rough  experience  of  a  new  country,  he  possessed  none  of  the  sycophancy  and  false 
polish  of  the  courtier.  His  devotion  to  every  duty  was  intense,  while  his  percep- 
tion cf  truth  and  worth  was  almost  intuitive.  In  his  estimate  of  these  he  was  sel- 
dom mistaken.  His  opinions  were  positive  and  strong;  but  ho  was  always  open  to 
conviction,  and  when  satisfied  that  they  were  erroneous,  his  concessioiu  were  grace- 
ful and  unqualified. 

Judge  HAXNA'S  mental  endowments  and  reasoning  powers  were  of  a  high  order, 
and  he  had  cultivated  them  through  many  years  of  close  observation  and  intense 
thought.  His  far-seeing  sagacity  and  prescience  in  the  solution  of  great  financial 
problems  were  remarkable.  His  experience  in  such  questions  had  been  extensive, 
and  he  had  profited  by  it  to  thu  utmost.  H«  stood  among  the  great  rail- 
road managers  of  the  country,  and  the  great  financiers  of  Wall  street,  the  ac- 
knowledged peer  of  the  ablest,  and  he  was  always  listened  to  with  deference. 

Judge  Hanna  was  a  life-long  student.  His  love  cf  nature  and  of  books,  and 
his  thirst  for  knowledge,  wore  ardent.  His  mind  was  wonderfully  retentive,  :iml 
he  had  accumulated  a  fund  of  information  ou  *11  tho  current  topics  of  the  day, 
that  w«w  rarely  surpassed.  Particularly  in  agrieultnre,  horticulture,  and  pomology, 


14 


HISTORY  OF  FOET  WAYNE. 


•which,  for  yeara,  he  had  vmade~a*  specialty,  his  {knowledge  wai  varied,  extensive,  and 
exact,  as  the  many  who  have  listened,  with  delight,  to  his  discourses  on  these  subjects, 
will  remember.  Though  approaching  the  limit  allotted  to  human  life,  his  capacity 
for  labor  was  undiminished ;  his  mental  acutenest,  undimmed ;  his  vigorous  man- 
hood, unabated.  He  was  just  entering  upon  a  new  and  arduous  field  of  labor  and 
responsibility,  when  he  wa»  suddenly  called  from  all  earthly  eares  to  a  final  ac- 
count. Like  one  of  America's  greatest  statesmen,  he  may  be  said,  literally,  to  have 
"  died  in  the  harness/' 

Such&is  a  brief  and  imperfect  outline  of  the  life  and  services  of  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  Fort  "Wayne ;  a  bright  exemplar,  worthyfthe  imitation  of  our  young. men  T 
and  whose  fitting  epitaph  would  be:  "A  Noble,  Honorable  Christian  Geutlemani."' 


GEM  HYACINTH  LASSELLE, 

Mh'IM    WHUT    MAN    BORN  AT  Kt>KI-ONa'A. 


HYACINTH  LASSELLE. 

THl    FIRST    WHITB    PERSON    BORN    AT    KJ-KI-ONG-A. 


The  first  white  person  born  at  K>-ki-ong-a,  or  in  this  portion  of  the  State,  wa» 
the  late  Gen.  Hyacinth  Lasselle,  of  Logansport,  Ind.  Hii  father,  Col.  Jamea  Las- 
selle,  of  Montreal,  Canada,  having  been  appointed  an  Indian.  Agent,  for  the  tribes 
of  this  vicinity,  removed  with  his  family,  to  the  village  than,  and  for  many  years 
after,  opposite  the  present  site  of  Tort  Wayne,  in  the  fall  of  1776.  On  the  25th  of 
February  following,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  at  this  point.  He  continued 
here  with  his  parents  until  the  fall  of  1780,  when  the  suddem  assault  upon  the  vil- 
lage by  La  Balme  and  his  troops  caused  a  very  precipitate  retreat  by  the  few  white, 
as  Well  as  all  the  Indian  inhabitants.  Col.  Lasselle  made  his  escape,  with  his  family, 
down  the  Maumee  by  means  of  boats,  with  a  loss  of  an  only  daughter,  who,  in  the 
confusion  of  the  flight,  fell  overboard  and  was  drowned.  He  afterwards  returned 
to  Montreal,  where  he  placed  his  son,  Hyacinth,  at  school.  The  latter  remained 
here  at  school  until  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  ho  was  taken  into  the  em- 
ploy, as  a  clerk,  of  his  older  brothers,  James  and  Francis  Lasselle,  who  were  then 
exttasive  traders  at  Detroit.  After  ascending  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  crossing  the 
Lakes,  by  means  of  battaux, — then  the  ordinary  mode  of  travel — his  party  reached 
Detroit  in  the  fall  of  1793,  after  a  journey  of  two  months  duration.  Here  he  remained 
as  a  clerk  in  the  establishment  of  his  brothers  for  about  a  year. 

The  Indian  war  having  been  closed  by  the  victory  of  Gen.  Wayne,  in  1794, 
and  peace  being  fully  restored,  ho  was  sent  by  his  brothers  to  trade  with  the  Indians 
at  Fort  Wayne,  which  had  been  erected  in  October  following  the  battle  at  the  rap- 
ids. He  arrived  here  in  the  month  of  May,  1795,  and  continued  to  trade  with  the 
Miamies,  and  other  tribes  visiting  the  Port,  for  about  a  year  and  a  half.  After  this, 
he  descended  the  Wabash,  and  traded  at  several  points  on  thatjriver,  until  the  year 
1804,  when  he  removed  his  establishment  to  Vincennes,  Ind.,  and  located  perma- 
nently at  that  place. 

Upon  the  inauguration  of  Indian  hostilities,  by  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  In  1811, 
he  discontinued  the  Indian  trade,  and  entered  the  military  service.  He  served  for 
a  period  of  four  years  as  a  Lieutenant  and  Captain  of  a  company  of  Mounted  Rifle- 
men, or  Rangers, — a  service  of  great  hardship  and  danger, — and  eventually  attained 
the  position  of  Major-General  of  the  Militia.  In  the  Spring  of  1833,  he  removed 
from  Vincennes  to  Logansport,  and  died  at  the  latter  place  on  the  23d  of  January, 
1843,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age. 

In  person,  Gen.  L.  was  about  5  feet  6  inches  in  height;  erect,  full-chested,  and 
muscular.  In  his  prime  he  was  rather  rotund  and  weighed  about  160.  His  complexion 
was  light,  inclining  to  florid ;  his  eyes  of  a  light-grey  color,  andfull;  and  hair  dark. 
His  features  were  regular,  inclining  to  the  Roman  cast,  and  indicated  intelligence, 
generosity  and  firmness.  The  accompanying  portrait  represents  him  as  he  appeared 
in  181U. 

From  the  year  1795  until  1804  he  was  almost  a  constant  resident  or  visitant  of 
Fort  Wayne  in  his  character  as  a  trader,  and  was  very  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  various  tribes  visiting  the  Fort,  and  with  their  character,  manners  and  customs. 
His  relations  of  the  many  incidents  connected  with  Indian  life  at  the  Fort  here, 
would  be  highly  entertaining;  but  their  recital  would  necessarily  occupy  a  very 
large  space  in  thi?  volume  to  detail  all  the  interesting  reminiscences  of  life  her», 


16  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

as  seen  and  often  recounted  by  Gen.  L.  He  was  hold  in  nigh  esteem  by  the  Indians, 
and  especially  by  the  Miamies,  who,  on  account  of  his  birth  among  them,  always 
called  hirn  by  the  name  of  Ke-ki-ah,  or  the  little  Miami.  He  was  very  active  and 
fleet  of  foot,  and  they  took  great  pride  in  claiming  him  as  their  champion  in  that 
line;  for,  in  early  times  athletic  gports  of  all  kinds,  and  especially  foot-racing,  wers 
in  great  furor  with  the  Indians  and  white  pioneers  here.  It  so  happened,  on  ona 
occasion,  that  the  Miamies  sent  a  challenge  to  all  the  neighboring  tribes  to  meet 
him  in  the  race.  The  Winnebagoes,  ot  Lake  Michigan,  accepted  the  challenga.  and 
sent  a  deputation  with  their  champion  to  Fort  Wayne  to  contest  the  palm.  Th» 
race  was  run.  But  the  Winnebagoes,  exasperated  at  the  prospect  of  defeat,  let  fir 
their  arrows  at  him,  just  &s  he  was  in  the  act  of  winning  the  race,  one  of  which  pierced 
his  thigh.  This  act  of  bad  faith  caused  great  excitement  among  the  Miamies,  who 
were  about  to  proceed  to  acts  of  violence  towards  the  Winnebagoes,  that  might 
have  produced  trouble  between  the  tribes ;  but  through  tbe  intercession  of  their 
favorite,  the  matter  was  finally  dropped.  His  wound  did  not  proveserious,  and  the 
»rrow  was  readily  extracted;  but  ho  beat  the  Indian. 


HENRY    RUDISILL. 


One  of  the  early  pioneers  of  North-eastern  Indiana,  the  subject  of  this  brief 
memoir,  was  born  in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  in  1801.  His  father  subsequently  moved  to 
Franklin  County,Pa.,and,  at  the  age  of  14,Henry  wasplaced  in  a  mercantile  establish- 
ment in  Shippinsburg,  Pa.,  to  be  thoroughly  educated  in  all  the  different  branches 
of  that  business.  Three  years  afterward  he  removed  to  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  (then  on 
the  borders  of  "Western  civilization)  as  an  employee  of  Messrs.  Barr  and  Campbell, 
who  were  then  largely  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  at  that  and  other  points, 
east  and  west. 

He  remained  with  this  firm  till  1824,  when  he  moved  to  Lancaster,  Ohio,  where 
he  engaged  in  business  on  his  own  account,  and  was  subsequently  married  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Johns,  who  still  survives  him.  In  1829  he  moved  to  Port  "Wayne,  Ind., 
and,  as  the  agent  of  Messrs.  Barr  and  McCorkle,  the  original  proprietors  of  Fort 
Wayne,  had  charge  of  their  interests  here  until  1837;  and  while  acting  in  that  capac- 
ity, cleared  and  cultivated  a  large  portion  of  what  is  now  the  "  Old  Plat "  and  "Man- 
na's addition  "  to  Fort  Wayne. 

Mr.  Kudisill  was  of  active  and  energetic  temperament,  and  a  true  representative 
of  the  men,  who,  under  Providence,  hava  made  the  Western  country  what  it 
now  is ;  and,  with  unselfish  aim,  always  took  an  active  and  important  part  in  every 
movement  that  tended  to  advance  the  interest  of  the  county  and  city  in  which  ha 
lived.  As  early  as  1836,  he,  in  connection  with  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  Johns,  com- 
menced the  improvement  of  the  Water  Power  of  the  St.  Joseph  river,  tvt  the  point 
where  the  St.  Joe  Mills  are  now  located,  one  mile  north  of  Fort  Wayne,  and  built 
there  a  saw  mill  and  the  first  flouring  mill  capable  of  manufacturing  merchantable 
flour  in  Northern  Indiana.  A  few  years  Inter,  he  put  in  operation  the  first  machine 
for  carding  wool  that  was  ever  used  in  Allen  county ;  and,  some  years  subsequent, 
in  company  with  Mr.  L.  Wolkie,  he  started  the  first  oil  mill  for  making  oil  from 
flax  seed  ;  and  also  established  the  first  woolen  factory  of  North-eastern  Indiana. 
So,  too,  in  church  and  educational  matters,  and  in  such  public  improvements  a* 
tended  to  develope  the  resources  of  the  county,  ho  was  always  ready  and  willing  to 
aid,  and  contributed  freely  to  their  support,  according  to  his  ability. 

Being  of  German  descent,  and  for  a  number  of  years  the  only  one  in  the  city  who 
could  speak  both  languages,  he  soon  became  the  counsellor,  friend,  and  helper  of 
many  who  came  from  the  Old  World  to  make  this  portion  of  the  New  their  hom» ; 
and  there  are  many  in  the  county  to-day  who  can  date  their  first  stops  in  their 
course  of  prosperity  to  his  assistance  and  advice. 

He  was  not  a  partisan  in  politics,  though  Toting  and  acting  with  the  Democratic 
party  on  all  State  and  National  questions,  till  1854,  when  he  began  more  especially 
to  reserve  the  right  to  vote  for  men,  on  local  questions,  regardless  of  party  caucuses 


MRS.  LAURA   SUTTENFIELD.  17 

or  conventions.  He  served  as  Postmaster  at  this  point  eight  yearsundcr  Jackson's 
administration,  and  a  term  of  three  years  a  Commissioner  of  Allen  county  ;  and 
probably  did  more  than  any  other  man,  through  his  personal  influence  with  tho 
Germans,  to  make  the  Democratic  party  the  ruling  power  in  the  county. 

Injured  by  a  fall  while  superintending  some  work  at  one  of  his  mills,  his  spina 
became  affected,  causing  partial  paralysis  and  subsequent  death  in  February,  1858. 

His  uprightness,  kindness,  and  affability  in  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow-citizens, 
early  won  for  him  a  host  of  friends,  who  will  ever  cherish  for  him  a  kindly  mem- 
ory and  regard. 

In  his  more  private,  social  intercourse,  he  was  no  less  happy  in  winning  the  regard 
and  esteem  of  every  one  with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  and  we  have  tne  consola- 
tion of  knowing  that  his  true  piety  and  earnest  Christian  faith  have  prepared  for 
him  a  rich  reward  in  that  better  world  to  which  he  has  gone. 


MRS.  LAURA  SUTTENFIELD. 


But  few  of  the  pioneer  mothers  of  Fort  "Wayne  gtill  survive  among  us  to  tell 
the  adventures  of  the  past,  one  of  whom,  is  Mrs.  Laura  Suttenfield;  who  is  now 
in  her  73d  year.  Mrs.  S.  was  born  in  the  city  of  Boston,  Mass.,  in  1795,  and,  as  the 
reader  will  already  have  seen,  came  to  Fort  Wayne  as  early  as  1814,  by  way  of  the 
St.  Mary's  river,  then  much  navigated  by  "  flats."  It  was  soon  after  the  arrival  of 
herself  and  husband  here,  with  gome  friends,  that  the  old  fort,  built  by  order  of 
G-en.  Wayne,  in  1794,  was  removed,  and  a  new  one  erected  on  the  site 'of  the  old 
one,  by  order  of  Major  Whistler;  in  the  building  of  which,  her  husband  took  an 
active  part.  Frura  the  time  of  her  first  arrival  here,  she,  with  others,  made  the 
fort  their  home,  and  continued  to  reside  io  the  garrison  several  years  after. 

Ever  attentive  and  amiable  in  her  disposition,  she  early  won  the  esteem  not  only 
of  those  within  the  garrison,  but  strangers  visiting  the  post,  then  so  famous  in  the 
northwest ;  and  her  recollections  of  the  brave  men  who  participated  in  the  struggles 
peculiar  to  those  early  times  are  ever  clear  and  interesting,  as  many  can  well  attest 
among  us  to-day.  Indeed,  during  many  years  fast,  if  any  question  of  special  im- 
port came  uo  for  consideration,  about  which  any  doubts  were  entertained  as  to  accu- 
racy of  date,  name,  etc.,  as  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of  Fort  Wayne  once  remarked 
to  the  writer,  an  appeal  was  at  once  had  to  the  memory  of  Mrs.  S. ;  and  all  felt 
confident  and  satisfied  when  she  gave  her  decision  on  the  point  under  consideration. 
Such  was  her  memory  in  other  days,  and  a  few  moments  conversation  with  her 
upon  early  pioneer  life  in  the  west,  at  her  present  advanced  age,  will  be  sufficient 
evidence  of  her  wonderful  memory.  Her  husband,  Col.  Wm.  Suttenfield,  who  has 
now  been  dead  some  years,  was  a  most  patriotic,  kind-hearted  man.  For  some 
time  after  his  removal  to  this  point,  he  was  a  non-commissioned  officer  of  the  fort 
here.  At  an  early  period  of  the  struggles  in  the  west  he  was  engaged  in  the  re- 
cruiting service,  and  for  many  months  after  his  arrival  here,  he  was  mainly  employed 
in  bringing  pro  visions,  and  other  articles  needed  by  tho  garrison  from  Piqua  and 
Bother  points,  on  puck-horses,  and  usually  had  three  or  four  men  to  accompany  and 
aid  him  in  his  perilous  and  burdensome  duties  back  and  forth  to  the  settlements.  Be- 
ing short  and  slender  of  form,  and  very  active  on  foot,  he  would  often  say  the  In- 
dians could' nt  catch  him,  and  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  them.  And,  as  during  the 
period  of  his  recruiting  service,  in  his  labors  as  superintendent  of  "packs  and 
general  provision  contractor  for  the  fort  here,  he  was  long  and  early  a  most  service- 
able man  to  his  country  and  the  little  band  of  settlers  and  sojourners  at  Fort 
Wayne  at  the  early  period  to  which  this  sketch  more  especially  refers.  The  first 
house  (a  substantial  log  edifice)  that  was  built  in  what  is  now  the  "old  plat," 
was  erected  by  Colonel  Suttenfield,  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Barr  and  Columbia 
streets,  just  opposite  the  grocery  store  of  T.  B.  Hedekin,  in  which  Mr.  Suttenfield 
and  family  resided  for  many  years  after  its  erection,  and  were  ever  esteemed 
for  their  many  kindly  traits  of  character. 

Mv».  8.'9  rccoUoaioas  of  Major  B.  F.  Stickncy,  vho  oftbu  sat  at  the  same  table 


18  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

with  them,  are  still  quite  fresh.  Mr.  Stickney  was  a  sterling  pioneer  and  soldier, 
and  did  much  for  the  alleviation  of  his  country  during  its  infant  struggles  in  the 
west,  ever  attentive  to  the  wants  and  sufferings  of  the  red  children  of  this  locality, 
as  will  have  been  seen  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  who,  in  many  instances,  came  to 
sad  destitution  and  debasement  through  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  a  few  years 
after  the  struggles  of  1812-14.  Also  of  Colonel  John  Tipton  and  Colonel 
John  Johnson,  two  most  patriotic,  intelligent,  energetic,  and  serviceable  pioneer, 
soldiers  and  citizens  of  the  west — the  former,  for  some  years  after  the  war  of  '12,  a 
resident  at  this  point,  and  more  or  less  constantly  in  the  society  and  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Mrs.  S.  and  family ;  while  the  latter  and  family  were  long  among  her 
warmest  and  best  friends,  and  at  whose  house  she  resided  while  living  in  Piqua, 
Ohio,  before  coming  to  Fort  Wayne — of  these  and  many  others  that  might  be  men- 
tioned, would  the  space  allow,  including  also  many  interesting  incidents  of  thoso' 
early  days,  with  some  of  which  the  reader  is  already  familiar,  her  memory  is  yet 
most  clear. 

In  view  of  the  vast  improvement  that  has  taken  place,  within  a  few  years,  in 
what  to  her  and  others  of  the  early  pioneers  here,  was  an  uncultivated  field,  strewn 
with  vast  quantities  of  underbrush,  with  occasional  heavy  timber,  knowing,  and 
known  by  every  one  in  the  region,  Mrs.  Suttenfield  now  finds  herself  in  the  opposite 
extreme;  and  says  she  "knows  no  one  now,  and  but  few  know  her"  among  the 
great  thrcng  of  new-comers  in  and  about  Fort  Wayne ;  while  the  immense  improve- 
ment in  building,  general  culture,  and  industrial  pursuits,  have  conspired  to  sur- 
round her  with  a  bus-y  air  and  tread  that 

Tell  no  more  of  those  primitive  days, 
And  cheery  pioneer  ways, 

•wherein,  but  a  few  years  since,  she  mingled  so  hopefully  and  free. 

With  Gallagher,  in  his  "  Song  of  the  Pioneers,"  how  cheerfully  can  she,  as,  "  with 
halting  step,"  she  moves  forward,  in  view  of 

"  Another  land  more  bright  than  this,1' 
join  in  th«  pleasing  refrain — 

"  A  song  for  the  early  times  otit  west, 

And  our  greeft  old  forest  home, 
Whose  pleasant  memories  freshly  yet 
Across   the   bosom  come  : 

*  #  >:••  *  , 
We  shunn'd  not  labor :  when  t'was  duo 

•  We  wrought  with  right  good  will ; 

And  for  the  homes  we  won  for  them, 

Our  children  bless  ns  still. 
We  lived  not  hermit  lives,  but  oft 

In  social  converse  met ; 
And  fires  of  love  were  kindled  then, 

That  burn  on  warmly  jet. 

*  *  ^  ff 
Our  forest  life  was  rough  and  rude 

And  dangers  closed  us  round  ; 
But  here,  amid  the  green  old  trees, 
Freedom  was  sought  and  found. 

,  *  *  If  if 

Oh,  merrily  pass'd  the  time,  dcspito 

Our  wily  Indian  foe, 
In  tbe  days  when  we  were  pioneer*, 

Fifty  years  ago." 


ALLEN  HAMILTON. 


One  of  the  early  settlers  of  Fort  Wayne,  was  the  late  Allen  Hamilton. 
Mr.  Hamilton  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  born  in  the  county  of  Tyrone,  in  the  year 
1798.  At  the  age  of  18,  meeting  with  a  gentleman  of  some  talent,  who  had  but 
recently  returned  from  a  visit  to  America,  young  Hamilton  listened  with  great 
attention  to  the  glowing  description  of  the  New  World — its  free  institutions,  &c., 
and  so  thoroughly  imbued  was  he  with  the  excellence  and  beauty  of  the  new  country 
over  the  waters,  that  he  returned  home  to'liis"  aunt's,  With  whom  he  was  then  living, 


ALLEN  HAMILTON.  19 

with  a  full  determination  of  seeking  a  home  in  America,  and  to  emigrate  thither  just 
as  soon  as  his  means  would  admit;  and,  accordingly,  in  July,  1817,  having  acquired 
through  his  own  exertions  and  by  the  aid  of  "friends,  sufficient  means  to  bring 
him  across  the  deep,  with  a  small  sum  also  to  maintain  him  for  a  short  period  after 
his  arrival  in  the  Canadas,  or  until  such  time  as  he  should  be  able  to  obtain  em- 
ployment, he  set  sail  for  Quebec,  whither  he  arrived1  in  due  course  of  time,  and  soon 
presented  himself  to  friends  of  his  aunt,  then  residing  there,  who  sought  at  once, 
through  the  commendation  of  his  aunt,  to  obtain  employment  for  bun.  But  he 
seemed  destined  to  meet  with  trouble  and  be  deprived  of  the  advantages  presented  bv 
the  recommendation  of  his  aunt  and  efforts  of  his  friends ;  for,  but  a  few  days  had 
elapsed  before  he  was  taken  sick  with  the  ship  fever,  a  disease  that  had  prevailed 
on  board  the  vessel  that  had  brought  him  to  Quebec.  For  six  weeks  young 
Hamilton  lingered  with  this  fatal  malady.  Beginning  to  show  strong  symptoms  of 
recovery  at  the  expiration  of  this  time,  through  his  physician's  advice,  he  sought  to 
reach  a  milder  climate,  and  had  only  succeeded  in  reaching  Montreal,  when  he  was 
taken  with  a  relapse  of  his  recent  attack  of  fever.  His  little  means  was  now  nearlv 
exhausted,  and  upon  his  recovery  from  the  fever  that  had  greatly  prostrated  and 
enfeebled  him,  he  found  himself  with  but  a  small  sum  over  and  above  his  physician's 
fee ;  and  desiring  to  reach  Philadelphia,  with  no  one  to  aid  him  in  the  procurance 
of  money  he  sold  some  of  his  most  valuable  wardrobe  in  order  to  obtain  the 
necessary  means  for  his  journey  to  the  city  of  Brotherly  Love. 

After  many  vicissitudes  and  a  long  and  tedious  journey  afoot,  he  at  length  reached 
Philadelphia.  "Without  means  and  without  friends,  he  wandered  about  the  streets 
in  pursuit  of  employment,  almost  despairing  of  obtaining  anything  to  bring  him  a 
competency — still  looking  pale  and  haggard  from  his  late  illness.  Butat  length  his 
eyes  fell  upon  a  notice  for  laborers,  tacked  '•  on  the  door  of  an  iron  store."  It  was 
•a  moment  of  joy  to  him;  yet  the  thought  of  his  enfeebled  situation  flashed  upon  him, 
and  fears  soon  arose  in  his  mind  as  to  the  probability  of  his  being  able  to  obtain 
the  position  offered  ;  for  he  had  already,  in  his  efforts  and  wanderings  for  a  place, 
been  refused  a  situation  "  as  a  common  porter  on  account  of  his  delicate  appearance." 
From  momentary  distrust  and  fear,  his  feelings  rose  to  the  height  of  unwavering 
resolution  and  courage;  and  he  at  once  entered  the  iron  store.  A  benevolent 
Quaker  chanced  to  be  the  proprietor  of  the  establishment.  Young  Hamilton  soon 
presented  his  claims,  and  having  told  his  story,  which  was  listened  to  attentively 
by  his  new  acquaintance,  the  Quaker  gentleman  promised  his  assistance ;  and  bu't 
about  two  days  had  elapsed  before  young  Hamilton  found  himself,  through  the  aid 
of  his  new  'benefactor,  in  "  a  clerkship,  with  a  salary  of  one  hundred  dollars  a  year 
and  board." 

"With  "an  increased  salary,"  our  young  adventurer  remained  with  his  new  em- 
ployer till  the  spring  of  1820,  when  he  determined  to  visit  the  west,  with  a  view  to 
meeting  a  cousin  of  the  name  of  James  Dill,  who  had  formerly  been  a  general  in 
the  army.  Learning  that  Mr.  Dill  resided  in  Lawrenceburgh,  Ind.,  young  Hamilton 
soon  made  his  way  to  that  point,  and  found  his  cousin  in  the  position  of  Clerk  of 
the  Dearborn  Count}'  Court.  Desiring  "to  prepare  himself  for  the  bar,"  young 
Hamilton  soon  proposed  to  his  cousin  to  enter  his  office,  "agreeing  to  write  six 
"hours  a  day  for  his  board  and  the  use  of  his  library;  "  which  seems  to  have  been 
Teadily  agreed  upon. 

Here  young  Hamilton  remained  for  some  time,  forming  the  acqunintance  of  many 
men  of  note,  and,  among  others,  rr.ade  the  acquaintance  of  Hon.  Jesse  L.  Holman, 
then  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  and  it  was  to  the  daughter  of  Judge 
Holman,  (Miss  Emeline  J.  Holman,)  that  Mr.  Hamilton  was  subsequently  united 
in  wedlock, — a  most  amiable  and  intelligent  woman,  who  still  survives  Mr.  H. 
Being  induced,  by  Capt.  Samuel  C.  Vance,  to  visit  this  famous  military  point  in 
1823,  Mr.  Hamilton  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  general  aspect  of  the  country 
surrounding,  and  especially  with  the  beauty  of  the  scenery,  about  the  confluence  of 
the  St.  Mary  and  St.  Joseph,  besides  perceiving  many  advantages  of  a  desircablo 
nature,  he  soon  concluded  to  take  up  his  abode  here  for  the  future.  Captain  Vance, 
a  short  time  previous  to  his  departure  for  Fort  AVayne,  having  been  appointed 
Register  of  the  Land  Office,  then  located  here,  Mr.  Hamilton  expressed  to  him  his 
determination  to  remain  IHT<\  ami  at  once  entered  th<>  land  office  as  a  deputy  regis- 
ter, where  he  also  "  pursued  his  legal  studies,  with  u  view  of  being  admitted  to  the 


20  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

nar  as  soon  as  the  naturalization  laws  of  the  country  would  permit,"  But  the  country 
being  yet  very  thinly  populated,  and  thinking  the  law  business  would  hardly  prote 
remunerative,  he  abandoned  further  preparation  as  a  lawyer,  and  subsequently 
turned  hia  attention  to  that  of  merchandising — having,  through  "  his  good  character, 
been  enabled  to  purchase  a  small  stock  of  goods  on  credit."  This  occurred  about 
H  year  after  his  advent  here  with  Capt.  Vance.  His  stock  was  small,  and  the  trade 
was  principally  with  the  Indians,  who  were  then  very  numerous  here — perhaps 
thirty  to  every  white  man  in  the  region. 

In  his  new  enterprise,  he  was  quite  successful,  an:l  two  years  later,  he  was  enabled 
to  bring  hither  a  very  extensive  stock  of  goods,  with  capital  and  credit  largely. 
increased. 

Associating  himself,  at  an  early  period  of  his  business  relations  here,  with  Cyrus 
Taber,  Esq.,  recently  of  Logansport,  Ind.,  under  the  title  of  Hamilton  &  Taber, 
Mr.  Hamilton  now  advanced  rapidly  in  in iter'ul  Wealth  an  1  influence;  and  the 
firm  of  Hamilton  &  Taber  long  enjoyed  an  extensive  and  enviable  reputation  and 
credit. 

Possessing  much  of  the  tact  nnd  good  nature  of  Sir  W  n.  Johnson,  with  whom 
the  reader  id  already  familiar,  Mr.  Hamilton  early  won  the  confidence  and  friend- 
snip  of  the  Indians,  and  was  especially  liked  and  ad  mired  by  the  Miamies,  who 
narlvandfor  years  confided  thair  business  affairs  to  him.  Chief  Richardville,  during 
several  years  prior  to  his  demise,  in  1841,  had  entrusted  his.aff.iirs  to  the  keeping  of 
Mr.  Hamilton,  and  never  ventured  upon  any  enterprise,  legal  transaction,  or  busi- 
ness affair  of  any  kind,  in  his  own  behalf  or  that  of  his  tribe,  without  first  consulting 
his  frien  I  Hvmlton;  anl  the  result  w  is,  th  it  immense  sunn  of  money  were  not, 
only  placed  in  his  charge  by  the  End  ans,  but  I?irg3  amr.uHs  were  often  disbursed 
among  them  by  him.  Knowing  the  Indian  character  well,  and  their  fondness  for 
liauor,  it  often  occurred,  when  they  came  to  town,  and  dr-sired  to  get  '-squabby,"  they 
would  call  upon  Mr.  Hamilton  for  s)io-nia ;  but,  inste.id  of  giving  them  money  at 
MIC li  times,  he  would  often  persuade  them  to  accept  of  something  else,  in  order 
to  discourage  their  thirst  and  desire  for  liquor;  for  which  they  would  unhesitatingly 
Boend  all  their  money,  if  even,  amounting  to  hundreds  of  dollars,  in  a  few  days. 
In  this  way,  and  for  this  reason  he  often  induce!  them  to  take  gitods,  and  such  ar- 
ticles that  would  serve  them  as  clothing,  &c.,  rather  than  see  them  throw  their 
money  away  for  liquor,  and  then  lie  about  drunk,  or,  being  maddened  and  bewil- 
dered by  the  liquor,  kill  or  dangerously  wound  each  other  in  the  broils  and  petty 
animosities,  sure  to  be  awakened  when  intoxicated. 

That  Mr.  Hamilton  was  largely  indebted  to  the  Indians  for  the  major  part  of 
his  wealth  and  business  success,  he  often  averred  in  his  life  time ;  but  while  this  is 
true,  it  is  clear  that  the  Indians  were  long  and  largely  in  his  debt  for  the  great 
care  and  attention  he  always  bestowed  upon  them,  in  transacting  their  business 
atfuirs,  giving  them  much  kindly  advice,  &o.,  during  many  years  subsequent  to 
their  removal  beyond  the  Mississippi,  in  1846;  and  the  Indians  ever,  to  the  time  cf 
their  departure,  for  the  west,  and  to  the  day  of  Mr.  Hamilton's  death,  held  him  in 
high  esteem. 

In  1824,  Mr.  Hamilton  received  the  appointment  of  Sheriff,  for  the  purpose  of 
organizing  the  county  of  Allen;  which  office,  by  a  subsequent  election  by  the  peo- 
ple, he  held  for  two  years.  In  1830,  he  was  chosen  county  clerk,  and  remained  in 
this  position  seven  years.  In  1824,  commissioners  having  been  chosen  "  to  negotiate 
a  treaty  with  the  Miamies,"  Mr.  Hamilton  was  chosen  Secretary  of  the  commission- 
ers; and  in  1333,  being  again  tendered  the  secretaryship,  he  declined  to  accept  it. 
In  1840,  though  politically  opposed  to  the  administration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  who 
was  then  President  of  the  CT.  S.,  Mr.  Hamilton  was  appointed  a  commissioner  with 
others,  to  treat  with  the  Miamie  Indians  in  the  extinguishment  of  their  land  claims 
in  Indiana,  and  to  induce  them  to  remove  to  Kansas;  which  terminated  agreeably 
to  the  wishes  of  the  government.  In  these  latter  relations,  in  view  of  his  great 
influence  with  the  Indians,  Mr.  Hamilton  proved  m  >st  servicable  to  the  State  and 
government.  Constantly  exposed,  as  they  were  here,  to  the  whisky  barrel  and  its 
debasing  influences,  Mr.  rttmilton  readily  saw  that  they  must  soon  be  destroyed  as  a 
people,  if  they  remained  under  its  influence;  and  he  humuneiy  sought  to  induce 
their  withdrawal  to  a  point  westward  where  they  would  see  le-s  of  the  traffic,  and 
hav«  a  larger  and  mure  abuudant  field  for  the' pursuit  of  their  favorite  mode  of 


ALLEN  HAMILTON.  21 

life— that  of  hunting  and  fishing;  and  readily  succeeded  in  inducing  a  large  maw 
of  them  to  leave  for  the  west. 

During  the  administration  of  General  Harrison,  in  1841,  Mr.  Hamilton  was  ap- 
pointed agent  of  the  Miamies,  which  position  he  held  till  1&44,  when  he  resigned. 
Some  $300,000  or  $400,000  were  disbursed  by  Mr.  Hamilton  during  the  period  of 
this  agency,  .to  the  satisfaction  of  both  the  government  and  the  Indians  of  the 
time. 


had  a  trading  house  about  where  stands  the  store  of  Messrs.  Heustis  &  Hamilton, 
in  accordance  with  quite  a  prevalent  custom  with  th«  Indians  of  the  time,  when 
they  saw  anything  that  pleased  them  very  much,  taking  a  fancy  to  the  animal, 
cried  out:  "  I  strike  on  that  horse,  Mr.  Hamilton."  Seeing  the  Chief  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  him  in  the  "strike,'1  Mr.  Hamilton  at  once  alighted  and  handed  the 
horse  over  to  the  future  care  and^eeping  of  the  Chief,  who,  according  to  the  custom, 
at  once  became  the  bona-fide  owner  of  the  horse.  The  next  "strike"  necessarily 
fell  to  Mr.  Hamilton,  and  he  was  not  long  indifferent  to  the  right  now  in  his  pos- 
session. So.  some  time  subsequent  to  this  "strike"  of  the  Chief,  he  and  Mr.  H:m:- 
ilton  were  riding  together  along  the  Wabash,  where  the  Chief  had  several  very  fine 
reserves  of  land,  one  of  which,  particularly,  drew  the  attention  of  Mr.  Hamilton, 
and  he  at  once  exclaimed  to  Richardville :  "Chief,!  strike  on  this  section/' 
"  vVell,"  said  the  Chief,  "  I  make  you  a  deed  for  it.  but  we'll  not  strike  any  more." 
Mr.  Hamilton  got  the  land;  and  though  the  Chief  had  the  first  "  strike."  y<-t  Mr. 
Hamilton  certainly  had  the  Largest.  But  the  matter  ended  in  the  greatest  good 
feeling. 

A  convention  for  the  revision  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Indiana  being 
called  in  1850,  Mr.  Hamilton  was  chosen  a  member,  over  a  very  popular  Demo- 
cratic Competitor,  by  a  large  m  ijority,  which  was  a  marked  evidence  of  the  esteem  in 
which  he  was  then  held  by  the  people.  In  the  conventi6n  Mr.  H.  received  the 
appointment  of  "Chairman  of  the  committee  on  currency  and  banking."  Among 
other  important  measures  brought  forward  and  adopted  by  this  convention,  was 
that  of  a  provision  for  the  establishment  of  free  banking  institutions,  in  which  Mr. 
Hamilton  wielded  a  most  salutary  influence ;  and  the  general  proceedings  of  the 
convention  were  signalized  by  many  wise  and  beneficial  enactments,  in  all  of  which 
Mr.  H.  took  an  active  part.  Not  possessed  of  great  oratorical  powers,  he  readily 
devoted  himself  to  icork — was  an  active  working  member— and  made  his  points 
tell,  whenever  he  presented  them  for  consideration. 

In  the  summer  of  1857.  Mr.  Hamilton  visited  Europe — among  other  places  the 
home  of  his  boyhood,  where  he  remained  till  the  summer  of  the  following  year.  Soon 
after  his  return  home  he  was  chosen,  by  a  handsome  majority,  representative  in  the 
State  legislature,  which  pcsition  he  continued  to  hold  during  the  whole  term  of  elec- 
tion(four  years),  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people  generally  of  this  section  of  the 
State— and  here  again,  he  was  a  working  member, — striving  on  all  occasions,  where 
matters  of  general  or  special  public  interest  came  up  for  attention,  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  achievement  of  "the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number.' 

For  some  years  after  the  expiration  of  his  senatorial  term,  he  continued  to  devote 
himself  to  his  business  relations  in  Port  Wayne;  had  been  for  some  years  Presi- 
dent of  the  Branch  Bank  of  Indiana,  which  was  located  at  Fort  Wayne  some  ; 
previous  to  the  convention  already  referred  to;  and  the  name  of  ALI.KN  HAMILTON 
is  still  familiarly  associated  with  the  banking  interests  of  Fort  Wayne — the  old 
familiar  banking-house  of  "Allen  Hamilton  '&  Co.,'1  still  retaining  the  name  and 
title  of  the  old  firm. 

Being  now  possessed  of  ample  means,  including  a  considerable  amount  of  real 
estate, — a  comfortable  and  beautiful  home,  with  numerous  advantage*  in  almo.-i 
every  material  point  of  view  that  might  relate  to  business,  political  or  social  dis- 
tinction— warm  friends,  and  a  commanding  position  as  a  numof  marked  integrity, 
intelligence,  and  good  nature,  he  was  enabled  to  look  back  upon  his  trying  advent 
in- the  New  World,  and  his  first  "small  beginnings"  at  the  village  of  Fort  Wayne 

•with  no  little  interest.     The 

*    *    *     "  tide  in  tl>p  affniri*  of  men, 

Which,  tatoo  *t  tbs  flood,  K-nds  on  to  fortune," 


22  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

had  of  late  years  signally  favored  him;  and  once  fairly  before  the  current  of  success", 
lie  seemed  to  have  moved  resolutely  forward,  gathering  strength,  at  every  turn — 
adding  continually  to  his  little  fund  still  larger  amounts,  untillit  length  he  was  ahle 
to  count  his  hundreds  of  thousands,  and,  finally,  in  August,  1864,  died  a  prosperous 
banker,  and  a  mo«t  worthy  citizen  of  a  noble  and  worthy  country. 


MRS.  EMELINE  GMPJSWOLD. 


This  eldest  of  the  few  remaining  pioneer  mothers  of  Fort  Wayne, who  came  to  this 
point  at  a  very  early  day,  is  now  in  her  seventy-sixth  year.  She  is  of  French  ori- 
gin, and  was  born  in  Detroit,  Michigan,  in  1792.  As  the  reader  will  already  have 
seen,  she  came  to  Fort  Wayne  as  early  as  1807,  with  her  grandfather  and  "grand- 
mother, Eatis  Maloch  and  wife,  the  former  being  attracted  hither  in  the  capacity  of  a 
trader,  this  then  being,  as.  it  had  been  for  some  years  before,  and  so  continued  for 
many  years  after,  a  noted  trading  post  with  the  Indians. 

At  the  time  of  her  advent  here,  she  was  a  sprightly  girl  of  sixteen.  Her  maiden 
name  was  Sheptaun.  It  was  not  the  intention  of  her  friends  to  remain  permanently 
here  when  they  came ;  but  the  scenery  and  everything  in  the  region,  though  wild 
and  uncultivated,  proved  so  agreeable  to  them,  and  the  trade  that  had  called  them 
hither  so  profitable,  that  they  concluded  to  make  their  future  home  here ;  and  at 
once  located  near  the  fort. 

From  an  early  period  after  their  settlement  here, — having  sometime  subse- 
quently been  united  to  a  Mr.  James  Peltier,  long  a  trader  with  the  Indians  of  the 
northwest,  and  much  liked  by  them, — the  subject  of  this  sketch  became  a  great 
favorite  with  the  Indians  of  this  locality ;  and  their  warm  regard  for  her  enabled 
her  to  wield  a  most  potent  influence  over  their  actions  during  many  years  of 
frontier  life  in  this  section  of  the  northwest.  Many  of  her  narrations  arc  indeed 
most  thrilling  and  interesting. 

Some  time  prior  to  the  siege  of  1812,  some  of  the  occupants  of  the  garrison  had 
received  an  invitation  to  join  a  pleasure  party  at  the  house  of  a  French  family,  a 
short  distance  down  the  Maumee,  and  being  somewhat  fearful  of  the  Indians  then 
lurking  about,  and  many  of  them  by  no  means  friendly  towards  the  Americans, 
the  young  Miss  Sheptaun,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  placed  in  the  lead  to  shield 
the  party  from  harm,  should  the  Indians  attempt  to  molest  them.  Leaving  the 
fort,  the  party  had  not  proceeded  far  in  the  direction  of  their  place  of  destination, 
when  some  of  the  unfriendly  Indians  caught  sight  of  them,  and  rushed  suddenly 
upon  them,  intending  to  kill  them.  The  Americans  at  once  began  to  huddle  about 
their  leader  and  protectoress.  Upon  a  near  approach  to  the  party,  the  Indians 
suddenly  recognized  their  friend  and  favorite,  Madamoselle  S.,  who  at  once  insisted 
that  her  friends  must  not  be  hurt  or  disturbed.  The  Indians  now  began  to  make 
some  effort  to  sieze  and  strike  the  Americans,  saying  to  her  in  their  tongue,  (for 
she  could  freely  talk  with  them  in  their  own  language,)  that  if  it  were  not  for  her 
they  would  kill  the  Americans.  But  she  finally  prevailed  upon  them  to  withdraw, 
and  the  party,  much  rejoiced,  soon  proceeded  again  on  their  way  down  the  Maumee, 
arriving  safely  at  the  house  of  the  French  family  they  had  started  to  visit  and  join 
in  the  festivities  in  view,  enjoying  themselves  for  several  hours,  and  returning  again 
in  safety  to  the  fort  in  the  evening.  Had  the  party  thus  ventured  upon  a  pleasure 
excursion  alpne,  or  forany  other  purpose  gone  out  of  the  garrison,  at  this  period,  it 
is  not  improbable  that  they  would  all  have  been  killed  by  the  Indians.  Such  was 
the  young  Miss  Sheptaun's  control  over  the  saA'ge  men  at  Ke-ki-ong-a  at  the  time. 
Sometime  subsequent  to  this  event,  some  unfriendly  Indians  made  an  attack  upon 
the  fort.  At  this  time  she  was  alone  in  the  hut  occupied  by  herself  and  friends, 
the  latter  being  then  absent.  Having  made  a  sally  upon  the  fort,  a  small  party  of 
Indians  passed  down  the  hill,  to  the  northwest  of  the  garrison  a  short  distance, 
where  the  hut  in  which  the  subject  of  our  sketch  then  resided,  and  stepped  into 
the  cabin,  where  they  unexpectedly  found  their  favorite  alone.  Instead  of  raising 
the  tomahawk  to  lull  her — as  was  then  and  formerly  often  the  case  when  meet- 


W.  G.  AND  G.  W.  EWING.  23 

ij?g  a  white  male  or  female  tinder  similar  circumstances — and  would  doubtless 
"have  been  the  result,  in  this  instance,  had  any  other  than  the  fainily 
of  _  their  friend  lived  there, — they  simply  asked  her  for  something  to  /eat, 
which  she  freely  and  pleasantly  gave  them.  Having  partaken  of  the  food  set  before 
them,  the  Indians  signified  that  they  were  sleepy,  and  desired  to  lie  down  ;  and 
the  savage  party  at  once  stretched  themselves  upon  the  floor  of  the  cabin,  where 
they  soon  fell  asleep,  and  continued  to  snore  heavily  for  some  hours,  when,  fearing 
lest  some  of  the  garrison  might  come  down,  and  see  them  thus  quietly  enjoying 
themselves,  in  her  presence,  she  awoke  them  and  told  them  they  had  better  go  away, 
as  some  of  the  men  from  the  fort  might  como  down  and  shoot  them  ;  to  which  they 
willingly  assented,  and  soon  passed  out  of  the  cabin-door,  and  strode  away  across 
the  common  and  the  St.  Mary,  toward  the  northwest,  leaving  their  heroic  friend 
and  favorite  again  alone  and  unmolested. 

Let  the  reader  go  back  to  those  frontier  times  for  a  moment,  and  look  about  him. 
What  a  wild  scene  is  presented  about  the  point  where  now  so  much  of  life  and  civili- 
zation are  want  to  be  seen  and  enjoyed.  What  a  contrast  between  the  present  and  the 
Fort  Wayne  of  that  period, — a  lonely  garrison,  with  a  few  indifferent  huts  near  it,  far 
removed  from  the  confines  of  civilized  life ;  surrounded  by  a  wily  foe,  daily 
seeking  an  opportunity  to  destroy  the  inmates  of  the  Post,  and  make  themselves 
masters  again  of  this  old  rendezvous  and  scene  of  their  early  associations — what  a 
contrast,  I  repeat,  do  we  behold  between  the  scenes  through  which  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  so  long  ago  passed,  and  the  aspect  presented  to-day  in  the  same  locality 
and  for  miles  around  this  old  center  of  Indian  life  in  the  Northwest !  Yet  our 
pioneer  mother,  the  once  sprightly  M'lle  Sheptaun,  has  lived  on  through  all  the 
years  of  this  great  change,  and,  with  a  few  others  of  "  long  ago,"  is  with  us 
.to-day,  to  tell  the  story  of  the  past — to  tell  the  little  ones,  as  well  as  the'older  folk, 
of  those  romantic  days  in  the  west,  when  the  country  was  yet  a  vast  wilderness, 
and  the  red  man  was  lord  of  the  forest — feared  by  day  as  well -as  by  night. 

But  let  us  return  to  our  story  again.  The  Indians  had  not  long  been  gone  from 
the  cabin  of  our  heroine,  before  an  officer  of  the  fort,  seeing  none  of  the  Indians 
about,  ventured  down  to  the  little  cabin  to  ascertain  whether  its  inmates  had  been 
killed  or  not.  Finding  her  still  safe,  and  hearing  her  story  of  the  manner  in  which 
phe  got  rid  of  the  warriors,  he  at  once  insisted  that  she  must  go  into  the  fort,  where 
ehe  would  be  more  secure,  whither  she  went,  and  where,  with  her  uncle,  David 
Boufie,  and  other  friends,  she  resided  for  some  months,  prior  to  and  during  thu 
famous  siege  of  Fort  Wayne,  in  3812. 

Though  now  in  the  decline  of  life,  her  memory  is  yet  quite  acute,  and  when  in  a 
talkative  mood,  she  readily  and  frequently  details  to  her  friends  and  acquaintance 
many  interesting  scenes  and  incidents  of  her  early  days  at  Fort  Wayne. 


THE  SWINGS— W.  Gr.  AND  GK  W.  EWINGK 


Most  prominent  among  the  early  settlers  of  Fort  Wayne,  was  the  Ewing  family  ; 
and  having  been  favored  with  a  manuscript  account  of  the  family,  written  as  early 
as  1855,  by  Col.  G.  W.  Ewiug,  deceased,  while  on  a  visit  to  Washington  City,  D.C., 
I  here  introduce  a  portion  of  the  same,  which  will  be  read  with  no  little  interest 
by  the  many  surviving  friends  of  the  Colonel  and  his  esteemed  brother,  Wm.  G. 
lowing — while  the  stranger  will  find  much  to  gratify  his  curiosity  in  its  perusal. 

'•  WASHINGTON  CITT,  i>.  c., 

"April  24th,    1855. 

"  Being  t'ye  last  and  only  remaining  un<>  of  the  four  brothers,  and  in  view  of  tho 
uncertainty  of  life,  P  huvu  thought  "that  it  would  be  but  right,  and  that  ii  W:N 
perhaps,  a  duty  I  owe  to  tho.su  who  survive  nu',  that  I  should  mukt;  u  statement  <->f 
reminiseiicRs  *u'ud  facts  within  my  knowledge,  relative  to  the  genealogy,  risu,  and 
progress  of  the  lajnily  to  which  1  belong. 


24  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

i 

"  The  absence  of  any  record  respecting  my  own  parents,  and  of  their  fore-fathers, 
has  always  been  a  source  of  regret  to  me,  as  well  as  to  my  lamented  brother. 

"  We  could  glean  but  a  meager  knowledge  of  them,  only  as  it  was  gathered, 
incidentally,  in  conversation,  from  time  to  time,  with  our  beloved  parents.  Even 
this,  we  failed  and  neglected  to  perpetuate,  for  my  noble  brothers  were  yet  in  the 
prime  of  manhood,  and  counted  not  on  dying  so  soon. 

"  But  they  have  all  sunk  to  their  final  rest,  and  I  am  spared.  I  will  not  there- 
fore longer  defer,  but  will  aim  to  make  a  plain  statement  from  memory  relative  to 
the  Ewing  family. 

"  My  father,  Alexander  Ewing,  was  born  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  (the 
county  not  recollected,)  about  the  year  1763,  of  Irish  parentage — the  third  son — 
(his  father's  name  was  also  Alexander)  had  two  older  brothers  named  William 
and  Samuel. 

"  About  the  year  1769,  my  father,  then  a  lad  of  some  sixteen  years  of  age,  attracted 
oy  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  which,  at  that  trying  period,  governed  every  true 
American,  repaired  to  Philadelphia,  and  there  enlisted  in  the  continental  army, 
and  remained  in  service  during  the  last  three  years  of  the  glorious  Revolutionary 
war.  I  often  heard  my  brave  sire  speak  of  the  incidents  of  that  war,  and  of  his 
love  and  veneration  for  Gen.  Washington ;  but  like  many  other  young  and  thought- 
less men  who  served  in  the  Kevolutionary  war,  he  failed  to  preserve  the  written 
evidence  of  his  discharge,  or  to  leave  behind  him  any  statement  showing  what  regU 
ment  he  served  in  or  the  name  of  his  commander. 

"  The  next  I  remember  of  my  father's  history  is,  that  some  years  after  peace  was 
restored,  perhaps  as  late  as  the  year  1787,  he  was  engaged  in  a  trading  expedition, 
in  what  was  then  called  '  the  far  west,'  among  the  Six  Nation  Indian  tribe.  He 
erected  a  trading  post  on  'Buffalo  Creek,'  then  an  entire  wilderness,  and  extended 
his  winter  trading  expedition,  after  furs  and  peltries,  into  the  country  of  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  encountering  all  the  privations  and  hardships  that  are 
usual  in  a  frontier  life. 

"  Where  once  stood  his  humble  trading  cabin,  now  stands  the  great  and  growing 
commercial  city  of  Buffalo. 

"A  few  years  later,  and  my  father  had  settled  down,  prosperously,  on  a  large 
and  splendid  farm,  on  the  Genessee  flats,  near  the  village  of  '  Big  Tree.'  This  is  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  on  the  Genessee  river,  some  sixty  miles  above  the  city  of 
Rochester.  There  he  courted  and  married  my  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Charlotte  Griffith,  the  daughter  of  Wm.  Griffith,  a  most  excellent  and  moral  man, 
of  Welsh  descent,  and  a  farmer  by  vocation.  The  nuptials  of  my  beloved  parents, 
were  celebrated  at  or  near  Avon  Springs,  not  far  from  what  is  now  known  as  Gen- 
esseeo.  I  cannot  state  the  year  that  they  were  married,  but  think  it  must  have 
been  in  1795,  or  there  abouts.  An  aunt  of  mine,  my  father's  youngest  sister, 
'  Katy,'  or  Catherine  Ewing,  was  married,  at  the  same  time,  to  the  Hon.  John 
Jones.  This  uncle  and  aunt  continued  to  reside  on  the  Genessee  flats,  for  many 
years ;  raised  a  large  family  of  sons  and  daughters,  and  finally,  both  died  there. 
These  Jones  are  first  cousins  of  mine — my  mother  had  also  several  sisters  and  broth- 
ers; two  of  her  sisters  resided  near  Genesseeo,  and  do  yet  if  not  dead.  One  was 
married  to  a  Mr.  foquires — the  other  to  Hon.  John  White.  They  have  both  raised 
large  and  highly  respectable  families. 

"In  the  year  1802,  my  parents,  in  consequence  of  reverse  fortune — my  father 
having  lost  his  splendid  farm  and  residence,  in  consequence  of  security  debts, — 
removed  from  the  State  of  New  York,  and  settled  on  the  river  Kaisin,  in  the  terri- 
tory of  Michigan,  where  now  stands  the  village  of  Monroe,  a  beautiful  and  flour- 
ishing town.  There  my  brothers,  Wm.  G.  and  Alex.  H.  Ewing,  were  born — and 
there  too,  I  was  born.  In  1807,  my  parents  moved  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  settled 
n  the  small  frontier  town  of  '  Washington,'  now  known  as  Piqua — there,  and  at 
Troy,  a  town  seven  miles  south  of  Piqua,  we  resided,  until  the  year  1822.  At 
Piqua,  my  sister  Lovina  was  born,  and  at  Troy,  my  sister  Louisa. — (I  forgot  to 
state,  in  the  proper  place,  that  Sophia  C.,  our  elder  sister,  and  the  first  born  of  our 
family, — and  Charles  W.  Ewing,  our  eldest  brother,  were  boVn  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  previous  to  our  parents  removing  from  the  Genessee  country.) 

"  In  the  war  of  1812,  my  father  volunteered  and  accompanied  the  Northwestern 
army,  under  command  of  Wm.  H.  Harrison.  Ho  waa  along  in  the  fall  campaign 


W.  G.  AND  G.  W.  Ewixa.  25 

of  1813,  when  the  great  war  chief,  Tecumseh,  and  his  British  allies,  were  defeated 
at  the  celebrated  battle  of  the  Thames.  My  father  attached  himself,  as  a  volunteer 
to  the  spies,  commanded  by  Capt.  Win.  Griffith,  my  mother's  eldest  brother,  a 
brave,  and  gallant  officer.  He  received  two  balls,  in  the  skirmish  at  the  crossing  of 
the  river  at  the  Moravian  Towns,  a  few  days  before  the  final  action,  but  they  were 
not  mortal.  James  Knaggs,  another  uncle  of  mine,  by  marriage,  to  one  of  my 
mother's  sisters,  and  who  is  yet  living  near  Monroe,  Michigan,  was  also  a  spy,  under 
Capt.  Griffith. 

"  At  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  which,  if  my  recollection  is  right,  was  fought  on 
the  5th  day  of  Oct.,  1813— the  great  Shawnee  war  chief,  Tecumseh,  was  killed. 
He  was  a  brave,  gallant,  arid  noble  Indian,  and  an  implacable  enemy  of  all  the  '  pale 
faces,'  but  not  cruel,  nor  savage.  He  would  not  do  a  mean  action.  1  saw  him 
frequently,  in  1810,  and  though  then  a  lad  only  seven  years  old,  still  I  recollect 
him  well— heard  him  speak  in  cour.cil  to  Gen. "Harrison,  before  the  war  of  1812 
broke  out.  He  was  a  native  orator,  a  most  graceful  and  elegant-looking  Indian. 
My  father  and  uncle  Knagg  found  and  recognized  his  body,  very  shortly  after  the 
battle  of  the  Thames  was  over,  for  they  both  knew  him  well.  In  a  short  time  after- 
wards, his  person,  being  recognized  and  known,  the  Kentuckians  cut  all  the  skin 
off  his  body,  to  carry  home  as  trophies,  to  be  used,  as  they  said,  for  '  razor  straps.' 

"My  uncle,  Capt.  "Win.  Griffith,  was  in  the  massacre  at  Chicago,  in  August, 
1812,  where  Capt.  Wells,  and  nearly  the  entire  command,  of  two  or  three  companies 
of  infantry,  were  overpowered  and  nearly  all  massacred,  by  a  very  large  force  (sup- 
posed to  have  been  three  thousand)  of  Indians.  They  showed  no  quarters,  except 
to  a  very  few,  whom  they  made  prisoners.  Capt.  Griffith  was  ffmong  the  latter, 
though  he  had  fought  gallantly  during  the  whole  fight.  He  was  believed,  by  the 
Indians,  to  be  a  Frenchman — for  he  spoke  the  Canadian  French  language — and  on 
this  account  his  life  was  spared.  . 

"The  Northwestern  Indians  have  always  entertained  a  great  friendship  for  the 
French,  and  call  them  their  'brothers.'  Under  this  disguise,  Capt.  Griffith  was 
spared  from  the  tomahawk,  and  he  soon  after  made  his  escape,  and  returned  homo 
in  safety,  but  immediately  again  joined  the  army,  and  marched  against  the  com- 
bined British  and  Indians,  under  Gen.  Richard  Jkf.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky.  Capt. 
Griffith  was  a  brave  and  gallant  officer.  He  died  in  1824,  and  was  buried  amid 
the  ruins  of  old  Fort  Meigs.  He  left  one  daughther  and  two  sons. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1822,  my  parents  moved  from  Troy,  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  to 
Fort  Wayne,  in  the  State  of  Indiana.  On  the  first  day  of  January,  1827,  my 
father  died,  aged  about  sixty-three  years.  His  disease  was  asthma,  and  other  in- 
firmities, produced  by  a  life  of  hardship  and  adventure.  He  was  a  man  of  limited 
education,  but  possessed  a  strong  will  and  indomitable  energy  ;  with  him,  to  will 
was  to  do.  He  was  a  man  of  warm  impulses — a  true  friend,  and  a  bitter  enemy. 
He  was  proud  of  his  family,  and  delighted  in  the  well  doing  of  his  children;  was 
proud  of  his  sons,  and  rejoiced  in  their  prosperity.  He  was  a  Free  Mason,  and 
bore  the  title  of  'Colonel.'  His  personal  appearance  was  commanding.  He  was 
six  feet  high ;  straight,  athletic,  and  active,  when  young.  His  complexion  was 
rather  light,  his  hair  was  auburn,  and  his  eyes  were  blue.  His  weight,  up  to  the 
age  of  forty  years,  did  not  exceed,  perhaps,  1 70  Ibs ;  but  in  after  years,  be  became 
large,  and  somewhat  Corpulent,  weighing  over  200  Ibs.  His  mortal  remains  were, 
by  his  own  request,  interred  on  a  small  mound,  on  the  prairie,  (his  own  land.)  just 
w'est  of  what  was  then  the  village  of  Fort  Wayne.  This  sacred  spot  is  marked  by 
a  small  oak  tree,  still  standing — but  in  consequence  of  the  construction  of  the  Wa- 
bash  and  Erie  Canal,  in  1833,  which  passed  very  near  to  ih's  spot,  my  brother, 
(Wm.  G.  Ewing.)  and  my?elf,  thought  it  a^n  unfit  place  for  the  tiiuu  reposing  of  the 
remains  of  our"  father ;  so,  in  1847,  we  erected  a  vault,  known  ns  the  •  Ewing 
Vault,'  situated  in  the  public  grave  yard  immediately  south  of  the  '  Ewing  addition' 
to  Fort  Wayne,  and  there  we  caused  to  be  deposited  our  father's  mortal  remains — 
enclosed  in  "a  zink  coffin.  The  remains  of  our  dear  mother,  and  eldest  brother. 
Charlt-s  W.  Ewing,  and  of  his  little  infant  sou,  are  also  there — in  zink  coffins;  and 
lastly,  the  remains  of  my  last,  and  most  lamented  brother,  Wm.  G.  Ewing,  are  there. 

"1  UH.\t  proceed  to  speak  of  my  most  excellent  and  estimable  mother,  whose 
goodness  I  shall  never  forget.  My  mother,  (Charlotte  Ewing,)  was  many  years 
younger  than  my  father.  "She  was,  in  all  relations  of  life,  a  most  worthy  and 


26  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 

excellent  woman — a  good  neighbor,  a  kind  mother,  and  possessed  of  great  good- 
ness of  disposition,  as  well  as  energy  of  character.  Her  industry  and  solicitude 
for  the  success  and  happiness  of  her  children,  knew  no  bounds.  It  was  the  grand 
object  of  her  honorable  life.  She  clung  to  her  children  like  a  true  mother,  and  no 
matter  what  the  cold  world  said  or  did,  she  never,  for  a  moment,  withdrew  from 
them,  her  love.  She  remained  single,  after  the  death  of  our  father,  and  resided 
alternately  among  her  children,  each  vieing  with  the  other  for  her  society. 

"  After  my  marriage,  which  was  on  the  10th  of  December,  1828,  she  resided  much 
with  me,  and  it  %yas  ths  happiest  period  of  my  life.  She  looked  upon  my  wife,  as  if 
she  had  been  her  own  daughter,  and,  for  the  love  she  bore  me,  took  great  interest 
in  her.  In  return,  my  wife  often,  told  me,  that  she  loved  my  mother  better  than 
she  loved  her  own  mother. 

"  On  the  18th  day  of  March,  1843.  my  good  mother  departed  this  life,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  her  eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Sophia  C.  Hood — and  within  an  hundred  yards 
of  where  I  then  resided.  She  lingered  for  many  weeks,  and  finally  died,  from  the 
effect  of  a  large  abscess,  which  had  formed  on  her  right  side,  internally.  It  was  a 
mournful  satisfaction  to  me,  that  I  happened  to  be  at  home,  and  where  I  could, 
and  did  attend  in  person,  on  her,  during  all  the  time  of  her  last  sickness. 

"  She  died,  as  she  had  lived — in  peace,  and  with  good-will  to  all.  She  was  not, 
strictly  speaking,  a  member  of  any  Christian  denomination,  at  the  time  of  her 
death,  though  she  had.  in  former  years,  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church, 
and  was  always  pious,  and  exceedingly  moral  in  all  her  acts.  She  was  a  firm  be- 
liever in  the  Christian  religion,  and  in  a  future  existence,  and  I  think  she  expressed 
her  regrets  to  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Hood,  that  she  had  not  attached  herself,  formally, 
to  some  church  and  continued  through  life  as  a  member — this  was  on  her  death- 
bed, during  her  last  sickness.  She  died  in  March,  1843,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three 
years,  having  survived  my  father,  and  remained  a  widow  some  sixteen  years.  Her 
remains  were  temporarily  interred  in  the  grave  yard  at  Peru,  Ind.,  adjoining  Mrs. 
Hood's  residence,  where1  she  died,  but  were  afterwards  removed  to  Fort  Wayne  and 
deposited  in  our  family  vault  there.  Her  life  had  been  a  virtuous  and  well  spent 
one,  and  she  died  without  reproach,  respected  and  esteemed  by  all  who  knew  her. 

•"My  parents  left  a  valuable  property,  and  the  estate  has  been  divided  equally 
among  the  seven  heirs — namely,  their  four  sons  and  three  daughters.  *  * 

*  *  *  *  *     The  Ewing 

family  are  of  Irish  extraction — we  are  descended  from  Irish  patriots  who  bore 
our  name,  and  who  were  obliged  to  leave  their  native  country  because  of  their 
republican  sentiments. 

"Some  of  them  settled  in  Pennsylvania — some  in  Kentucky — and  some  in  Ten- 
nessee. The  Hon.  Thos.  Ewing,  of  Ohio,  is  distantly  related  to  us — so  are  most  of 
the  Ewings  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri ;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  circum- 
stance, and  fact,  which  I  may  here  insert,  without  being  guilty  of  egotism,  that  I 
never  yet  saw,  or  knew,  a  man  of  this  family,  of  Ewings,  (and  I  have  seen  and 
know  very  many  of  them),  who  was  not  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  talents,  and 
and  ability,  and  many  of  them,  were  prominent,  and  distinguished  men.  The  Hon. 
Thos.  Ewing  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  lawyers  and  statesmen  of  this  country  ; 
was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  under  Gen.  Harrison's  administration,  in  1841,  and 
again  in  1853,  was-Secretary  of  the  Interior,  under  Gen.  Taylor.  Has  several  times 
represented  his  State,  (Ohio)  in  the  U.  S.  Senate.  Hon.  Wm.  Lee  D.  Ewing, 
one  of  the  Kentucky  branch,  was  also  a  prominent  man — was  once  U.  S.  Senator 
from  the  State  of  Illinois,  where  he  resided  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  Hon. 
Andrew  Ewing  was  a  Representative  in  Congress,  from  Tennessee,  and  the  Hon. 
Prebley  Ewing  was  also  a  Representative  in  Congress,  from  Kentucky;  and  thus 
I  might  go  on,  speaking  of  others,  of  the  name  and  kindred,  who  have  filled,  with 
signal  ability,  many  places  of  honor  and  responsibility;  but  I  will  not  enlarge — 
my  object  being  simply  to  give,  from  memory,  a  simple  and  truthful  family  narra- 
tive, which  may  survive  me,  and  be  read  with  interest,  by  my  children  and  their 
descendents, — and  I  cherish  the  fond  hope  that  they  will  aim  to  emulate  those  who 
have  preceded  them,  and  add  to  our  family  name  and  reputation,  rather  than,  by  un- 
worthy conduct,  sink  down,  and  detract  from  it.  I  wish  that  they  Avould  not  only 
read  and  study  the  course  and  conduct  of  my  lamented  brother,  "Wm.  G.  Ewiu^, 
and  of  Alex.  H.  Ewing,  and  myself,  but  I  want  them  to  appreciate  them,  and  aim 
to  profit  by  our  examples." 


W.  G.  AND   G.  W.  EWING.  27 

The  namos  of  the  seven  heirs  mentioned  in  the'foregoing,  were  Hon.  Charles  Wavne 
Ewing,  some  years  ago  President-Judge  of  the  8th  Judicial  Circuit  of  the  State  of 
Indiana;  and  ever  esteemed,  and  yet  extensively  and  kindly  remembered,  for' his 
many  excellent,  intelligent  traits  of  character ;" but  who  ca"me  to  a  very  unhappy 
end,  several  years  since,  by  destroying  his  own  life  in  a  lit  of  sorrow,  brought  on 
by  an  ill-advised  marriage — a  want  of  compatibility  of  temperaments ;  Win.  G. 
Ewing,  formerly  Judge  of  the  Allen  county  Probate  Court,  also  much  beloved  and 
regarded  for  his  fine  intellectual  qualities  and  spirit  of  generosity  ;  Alexander  H. 
Ewing,  for  some  years  a  very  successful  merchant  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio;  Geo.  W. 
Ewing,*  widely  known  for  his  fine  business  and  general  intellectual  qualifications ; 
Sophia  C.  Ewing,  relict  of  Smallwood  Noel,  Esq  ;  Loviria,  deceased,  some  years  ago 
married  to  the  Hon.  Geo.  B.  Walker,  of  Logansport,  Ind.;  Louisa,  consort  of  Dr. 
Charles  E.  Sturgis,  of  Fort  Wayne.  Charles  W.  and  Sophia  C.  were  born  at  Big 
Tree  ;  Lovina  and  Louisa  Ewing  at  Troy,  Ohio. 

As  early  as  1827,  Wm.  G.  and  Geo.  W.  Ewing  began  their  business  operations, 
whichhave  since  become  so  extensive  and  widely  known,  under  the  title  of  "  W.  G. 
&  G.  W.  Ewing;  "  and  (i  by  their  articles  ofcopartnership,  all  their  estate,  of  any 
name  and  nature,  became,  and  continued  to  be,  the  common  property  of  the  firm, 
until  the  llth  day  of  July,  1854,  when  the  co-partnership  ceased  by  the  death  of 
William."  Ever  reposing  the  largest  confidence  in  each  other,  "no  settlement  of 
accounts  ever  took  place  between  them." 

In  connection  with  their  general  business  transactions,  they  established,  at 
different  times,  a  number  of  "side  partnerships  and  branches."  in  Fort  Wayne, 
Logansport,  and  La  Gro,  Ind.;  in  Michigan,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Minnesota,  Wiscon- 
sin ;  and  it  is  said  "their  business  extended  from  Europe  to  the  Rocky  mountains." 
With  numerous  and  faithful  employees,  their  name  was  long  familiar  "  in  every 
town  and  hamlet  from  the  Alleghany  to  the  Kockv  mountains  " — embracing  exten- 
sive buildings  and  property  in  the  cities  of  Chicago,  Ills.,  and  St.  Louis,  Mo.;  also, 
under  the  firm  of  W.  G.  &  G.  W.  Ewing,  large  business  operations  wore  carried 
on  at  Westport,  Mo. 

After  the  demise  of  Wtn.  G.  Ewing,  llth  of  July,  1854,  while  on  a  visit  to  Lake 
Superior,  Geo.  W.  gave  much  of  his  time  to  the  winding  up  of 'the  extensive 
business  relations  of  the  firm ;  and,  aided  by  his  agents  and  confidential  friends, 
Mess.  Miner  &  Lytle,  by  the  10th  of  October,  1866,  made  "  a  full,  final,  and  complete 
settlement  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  administrators  and  legatees  of  his  brother's 
estate,"  and  which  was  "  confirmed  at  the  March  Term  (1 866,)  of  the  Common 
Pleas  Court  of  the  county  of  Allen,"  and  the  estate  of  Wrn.  G.  Ewing  closed." 

At  quite  an  early  day,  Col.  Geo.  W.  Ewing  was  engaged  in  trade,  and  indeed  began 
his  first  business  operations  among,  the  Shawanoe  Indians,  establishing  a  trading- 
post  at  the  famous  Indian  village  of  Waughpocanata,  ,Auglaizo  county,  Ohio.  In 
1826,  he  attended  the  treaty  of  the  Miamie  Indians;  and  seems  here  to  have  laid  tho 
foundation  of  his  subsequent  business  success.  After  this  treaty,  others  were  held 
at  different  points  in  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  which  he  also  attended, 
and  "  took  a  prominent  part." 

Being  united  in  wedlock  to  Miss  Harriet  Bourie,  in  1828,  Col.  Ewing  now  settled 
down  at  the  village  of  Fort  Wayne,  where  he  remained  till  1830,  when  he,  with 
his  family  and  a  few  others  then  living  here,  removed  to  tht;  W  abash,  at  tho  mouth 
of  Eel  river,  wher.e  they  founded  the  present  thriving  city  of  Logansport,  InJ. 
Quitting  this  point  in  1839,  with  his  family,  he  took  up  his  residence  at  Peru,  Ind., 
where  he  remained  till  October,  1846;  when  he  removed,  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.  Here, 
in  January,  1847,  he  lost  his  wife,  and  where  he  continued  to  reside  till  the  death  of 
his  brother,  William  G.  Ewing.  It  now  became  neo.'ssary  that  he  should  return 

*Tho  following,  found  among  some  of  his  papers  after  his  decease,  which  refers,  in 
part,  to  tho  MSS.  from  which  the  foregoing  extracts  are  undo,  will  show  much  of  tho 
liner  feeling  that  imbued  his  inner  life.  "  It  is  iny  intention,"  says  he,  "  to  complete  this 
family  sketch,  (but  he  died,  leaving  it  unfinished)  if  I  can  ever  get  time — and  I  will 
revise  it,  and  divest  it  of  all  unkind  expressions,  for  I  would  not  transmit  any  thing  of 
that  kind  to  a  future  generation.  It  would  be  in  bad  tttste.  The  good  that  men  do  li  v  <••>. 
after  them,  whilst  their  errors  should  be  buried  with  them  in  their  graves.  To  err  is 
human,  and  where  is  that  man  who  never  errs?  To  forgive,  when  malice,  and  hnt'cd, 
detraction,  and  ingratitude,  have  done  their  worst,  is  manly  and  Hoble." 


28  HISTORY  OF  FOET  WAYNE. 

to  Fort  Wayne,  to  attend  to  the  business  affairs  of  the  firm  here;  and,  in  the  latter 
parf  of  December,  1865,  he  came  back  to  his  old  home  and  the  scenes  of  his  early 
association;  but  his  period  of  physical  life  now  seemed  destined  to  be  of  short  dura- 
tion. Upon  his  arrival  iu  Fort  Wayne,  he  found  himself  greatly  afflicted 
witb  bilious  pneumonia,  from  which  he  sometime  after  had  only  partially  recov- 
ered, when  heart  disease  took  a  severe  hold  upon  him ;  and  after  a  lingering  and 
most  painful  illness  of  some  five  months,  on  the  29th  day  of  May,  1866,  his  spirit 
passed  quietly  away  to  the  brighter  land  beyond  the  grave 

The  estate  of  Wm.  G.  Swing  was  quite  extensive,  amounting  to  some  $750,000, 
200,000  of  which  fell  to  his  excellent  wile,  who  still  survives  him  ;  while  the  children 
of  G.  W.  fell  heir  to  the  main  bulk  of  his  large  fortune  of  about  1/225,000  dollars; 
and  Messrs.  Miner  &  Lytle,  by  certain  provisions  of  the  will  left  by  the  Colo- 
nel, are  supervising  the  erection,  of  many  large  and  handsome  buildings  in 
Fort  Wayne,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and  elsewhere;  the  income  from  which,  with 
other  property  of  the  estate  of  Geo.  W.,  must  reach  a  vast  increase  and  value 
during  the  next  half  century. 

Hut  the  scene  has  shifted ;  and  these  early  pioneers  have  all  passed  away,  leaving 
their  stocks  and  bonds  behind  them,  let  us  hope,  wisely  to  be  enjoyed,  and  judi- 
ciously, humanely  employed  and  dispensed. 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLERS  OF  FORT  WAYNE. 


What  was  written  near  a  half  century  ago  of  the  German,  is  equally  true  of  him 
to-day  :  He  is  a  "  man  of  the  world;  he  lives  under  every  s>cy,  and  conquers  every 
obstacle  to  his  happiness.  His  industry  is  inexhaustible."  Poland,  Hungary,  and 
Eussia  were  years  ago  indebted  to  German  emigrants;  and  the  same  may  be  said, 
in  a  great  measure,  of  America — that  almost  universal  characteristic  of  the  Ger- 
man people,  rectitude,  united  with  an  unswerving  perseverance  and  industry,  at  an 
early  period  of  our  country's  history,  found  their  way  to  this  land  of  promise  in 
the  "continued  influx  of  German  emigrants ;  and  while  they,  as  a  general  rule, 
have  prospered  well,  and  in  very  many  instances  grown  rich,  the  country  has  been 
greatly  benefited  and  improved  by  this  stable  people. 

Long  noted  for  their  liberal,  philosophic  sentiments,  they  are  here,  in  America, 
as  in  the  old  world,  extensive  readers  and  apt  thinkers.  Sociable  and  talkative  as 
a  class,  they  know  no  fetters  for  the  honest  conscience  of  any  man,  and  woull  as 
readily  measure  swords  with  the  opponent  of  their  national  or  individual  freedom, 
as  drink  a  glass  of  choice  Rhine  wine  with  a  beloved  countryman. 

As  in  the  Old  World,  the  works  which  they  produced  and  still  produce  there,  "  in 
watch  and  clock-making,  in  the  arls  of  turnery,  sculpture,  painting,  and  architec- 
'  ture,  are  very  wonderful,"  sc  in  the  New  World  of  North-America,  the  German 
every  where  stands  high  in  his  profession,  what  ever  it  may  be. 

"The  character  of  men,"  says  Goldsmith,  "depends  much  on  the  government 
under  which  they  live.  That  of  the  Germans  (of  the  Old  World)  has  in  general 
as  little  brilliancy  in  it  as  the  constitution  of  the  empire.  *  *  *  *  There 
is  one  thing,"  continues-he,  "in  the  character  of  the  Germans  for  which  it  is  not 
easy  to  account ;  that  is  loquacity.  The  French  themselves  scarcely  talk  faster,  or 
are  more  communicative,  whether  they  are  or  are  not  strangers  to  each  other,  than 
these  sonsof  the  more  northern  regions."  And  "they  write,"  he  adds  "  with  no  less 
profusion  than  they  talk,  as  their  numerous  authors  and  books  can  attest.  The 
peculiar  turn  of  the  Germans,"  he  further  remarks,  "seems  to  be  for  philosophy; 
they  are  distinguished  from  all  the  nations  of  Europe  for  a  cool,  and  generally  just 
judgement,  united  with  extreme  industry." 

Everywhere  in  America,  where  there  is  population  sufficient,  you  find  the  Ger- 
man newspaper ;  and  books,  in  great  quantities,  are  annually  published  in  the  Ger- 
man language  in  this  country;  while  vast  quantities,  of  every  description,  are  being 
continually  imported  from  the  extensive  publishing  house  of  Leipzig,  Stuttgard, 


EARLY  GERMAN  SETTLERS  OP  PORT  WAYNE.  29 

Bremen,  Berlin,  and  Wien,  in  Germany,  as  the  capacious  shelves  of  our  German 
fellow-citizens,  Messrs.  Siemon  &  Bro.,  of  Fort  Wayne,  can  well  attest. 

Here,  as  in  the  old  German  States,  we  have  the  two  schools  of  religion,  in  many 
parts  of  the  country  quite  extensive,  and,  perhaps,  for  the  size  of  the  place  and 
settlement  surrounding,  none  more  so  than  Fort  Wayne  and  vicinity  ;' and  while 
the  German  Protestants,  as  in  the  old  country,  are  noted  for  their  remarkable  fru- 
gality, the  German  Catholics  are  here  still  distinguished  for  their  frankness  and 
good-heartedness. 

Most  conspicuous  among  the  early  settlers  of  Fort  Wayne,  many  of  whom 
still  survive,  are  the  familiar  names  of  J.  and  B.  Trentman,  Jacob 'and  J.  M. 
Foelinger,  A.  Meyer,  Geo.  Meyer.  H.  Nierman,  John  Off,  H.  R.  Sehwegman,  Dr. 
C.  Schmitz,  Henry  Baker,  Jacob  Fry,  B.  Phillips,  C.  Morrell,  C.  Nill,  Louis  Wol- 
kie,  S.  Lau,  H.  Kndisill,  A.  Lintz.  Kev.  Dr.  Sihler,  Geo.  Miller,  E.  Vodemark,  C. 
Piepenbrink,  D.  Wehnrier,  Chas.  and  L.  Baker,  Chas.  Muhler,  and  many  others. 

One  of  these  early  settlers  gives  an  amusing  account  of  his  advent  here.  Having 
made  his  way  up  the  Maumee  with  his  family  and  what  little  household  goods  he 
then  possessed,  heat  length  drew  up  about  the  center  of  the  village,  which  then 
consisted  of  a  few  indifferent  log  huts,  scattered  about  the  head  of  Columbia  street 
and  the  old  fort.  The  largest  hospitality  then  (as,  let  us  hope  does  now  exist  among 
the  citizens  of  Fort  Wayne)  prevailed  among  every  class  of  citizens  here :  ever 
anxious  and  ready,  as  they  were,  to  attend  to  the  wants  of  and  entertain  in  their 
best  and  kindest  way,  the  many  emigrants  and  travelers  seeking  new  homes  in  the 
west,  regardless  of  race  or  sect;  and  scarcely  had  our  German  friend  halted,  before 
he  was  greeted  with  the  words  :  "  Landsleute,  wie  gate*,'  by  a  kind  old  Pennsylvania 
settler,  Capt.  Robt.  Brackendridge,  then  register  in  the  land  office  here,  Who  at  once 
pressed  him  to  stop,  saying  they  wanted  more  settlers,  and  that  here  Was  a  good 
place  to  stop. 

At  this  point,  our  new-comer  enquired  as  to  where.  Fort  Wayne  was,  and  how  far 
it  was  to  that  place;  saying  that  he  wished  to  go  there;  to  which  Capt.  B.  replied 
that  he  was  already  in  the  place.  Casting  his  eyes  over  the  village,  with  both  won- 
der and  disappointment,  at  this  announcement,  he  exclaimed,  with  no  little  empha- 
sis, "pshaw  !  "  But  he  stopped — -is  here  to-day;  and  has  seen,  from  year  to  year, 
with  many  others,  the  little  village,  with  a  few  indifferent  log  huts,  as  presented 
on  his  advent  here,  between  thirty  and  forty  years  ago,  gradually  expand  into 
wondertul  proportions,  annually  offering  large  inducements  for  the  settlement  here 
of  men  of  industry,  enterprise,  and  honesty  of  purpose. 

Of  this  hardy,  thrifty  class  of  people,  many  of  them  but  recently  from  the  Old 
World,  and  oth3rs  from  Pennsylvania,  Fort  Wayne,  at  an  early  day,  was  made  up. 
Early  procuring  small  tracts  of  land,  in  some  instances,  and  considerable  sections 
in  others,  in  and  about  the  present  limits  of  Fort  Wayne,  with  their  usual  indom- 
itable will  and  perseverance,  they  began  to  hew  down  the  trees,  clear  away  and 
burn  the  stumps  and  underbrush,  until  at  length,  in  unison  wich  other  early  set- 
tlers, of  this  section  of  the  northwest,  many  beautiful  and  fertile  gardens  un.l  farms 
began  to  appear  on  all  sides ;  fruit  trees  were  planted,  and  extensive  orchards,  in  a 
few  years  more,  began  to  gladden  the  new-comers  with  abundance  of  choice  fruits ; 
while,  as  the  ground  upon  which  our  beautiful  city  st'inds  to-day  bocame  gradually 
prepared  and  made  free  of  stumps  and  other  impediments,  in  the  form  of  sand- 
hills, hazel-oushes,  ponds,  etc.,  new  buildings  began  gradually  to  a  >pear,  and  many 
comfortable  dwellings,  by  the  aid  and  energy  of  German  labor,  everywhere  served 
to  cheer  the  masses  and  "encourage  still  greater  efforts  in  building  and  general  im- 
provement. And  so  the  place  has  moved  steadily  on  to  its  present  growth  and 
prosperity  of  near  thirty  thousand  inhabitants,  the  musses  of  our  German  fellow- 
citizens  always  busy  with  their  hands,  heads,  and  capital — aiding  each  other,  plan- 
ning new  enterprises,  erecting  new  edifices,  and  preparing  the  soil  for  the  reception 
of  seed  and  cultivation  of  plants  and  herbs.  The  result  has  been  glorious;  and  at 
every  side  our  improvements  give  promise  of  a  still  wider  range  of  culture  and  gen- 
eril  material  advancement  in  the  future.  Many  of  the  German  settlers  have  now 
bean  here  -between  thirty  and  forty  years-  -some  of  them  poling  their  w:i\,  at  the 
period  of  their  coming  to  this  point,  up  the  Maumee  in  pirogues  to  the  then  village 
of  Fort  Wavna — all  quite  poor  in  moans,  but  able  of  hand  and  willing  of  heart, 
to  wjrk — to  till  ibe  soil,  and  buiU  ihomouivoo  homo*.  Laud,  twin^  then  ^uilo  cheap 


80  HISTORY  OP  EORT  WAYNE. 

many  made  small  purchases,  while  others  worked  at  their  trades  or  hired  out  as 
common  day  and  monthly  laborers,  as  was  then  common  among  nearly  all  classes 
of  the  early  pioneer  settlers  of  the  west,  for  then  all  was  new,  and  work  was  to  be 
done  by  all,  if  a  competency  was  to  be  gained,  and  the  common  necessities  of  life 
procured.  And  to-day  it  would  be  difficult  indeed  to  enter  any  of  the  various 
machine  and  general  workshops  of  Fort  Wayne  and  fail  to  find  the  German  un- 
represented— indeed,  in  many  of  these  extensive  establishments  a  full  score  of  these 
hardy  yeomanry  of  the  Old  World  are  constantly  employed  from  year  to  year  ; 
and  are  annually  making  purchases  of  lots  in  the  city  or  its  suburbs,  and  building 
thereon,  and  raising  families;  whilo  many  of  the  old  German  settlers  have  for  years 
largely  prospered  in  various  ways  ;  and  to-day  are  variously  engaged  in  extensive 
business  pursuits,  and  greatly  esteemed  by  the  masses  of  Fort  Wayne  for  their  in- 
tegrity, intelligence,  and  broad  spirit  of  liberality  and  love  of  order. 

Such  are  the  Germans  of  Fort  Wayne  ;  and  may  their  better  sense  of  frugality, 
perseverance,  integrity,  and  general  spirit  of  industry  and  philanthropic  liberality 
ever  serve  as  worthy  examples  of  emulation  and  regard  for  the  generations  yet  to 
come. 


These  lines  are  appropriate  here.  They  tell  in  rhythm  of  the  brave  and  noblo 
"PIONEERS  OF  THE  WEST,"  who  years  ago  sought  homes  in  the  western  wilds, 
and,  amid  hardships  and  dangers,  laid  the  foundation  of  future  greatness.  They 
are  from  the  pen  of  Eliezer  Williamson,  of  Ohio,  and  were  written  as  early  as 
1842: 

Where  now,  Task, is  that  bold,  daring  band? 

The  honored  fathers  of  this  Western  land; 

They  who  first  crossed  Ohio's  silvery  wave, 

And  did  unnumbered  toils  and  dangers  brave  ? 

Though  some  of  them  did  bid  the  world  farewell, 

Some  still  survive,  their  matchless  deeds  to  tell. 

Though  fleeting  years  have  passed  forever  by 

Since  first  they  trod  beneath  this  Western  sky  ; 

Yet  they  remember  well  those  early  days,  . 

And  view  our  country  NOW  with  great  amaze. 

The  country  TIIEX  was  an  unbroken  wild  ; 

The  "  WESTERN  WILDERNESS,"  it  then  was  styled  ,' 

The  Ohio  then  sent  forth  a  wild-like  roar, 

And  dark,  djense  forests  waved  upon  the  shore  : 

Along  her  strand  the  Indians  then  did  dwell, 

And  oft  was  heard  the  wild  and  savage  yell. 

The  mighty  oak — proud  monarch  of  the  wood, 

Upon  these  hills  in  stately  grandeur  stood. 

Along  these  vales  did  ferocious  panthers  prowl, 

And  oft  was  heard  the  fierce  wolf's  frightful  howl  ; 

But  all  these  savage  beasts  have  pass'd  away. 

And  the  wild  Indians  too— where  now  are  they? 

They've  disappeared — most  of  those  tribes  are  gone, 

Like  night's  dark  shades  before  the  rising  dawn. 

Can  we  forget  that  brave  and  hardy  band 

Who  made  their  homes  first  in  this  Western  land  ? 

Their  names  should  be  enroll'd  on  history's  page, 

To  be  perused  by  each  succeeding  age  : 

They  are  the  fathers  of  the  mighty  West  ; 

Their  arduous  labors  heaven  above  has  bless'd. 

Before  them  fell  the  forest  of  the  plain, 

And  peace  and  plenty  followed  in  the  train, 

In  vain  would  I  attempt  to  bring  to  view 

The  dangers  which  those  pioneers  pass'd  through. 

The  wintry  winds  in  wildness  round  them  blow, 

And  o'er  them  often  rolls  the  drifted  snow. 

Upon  the  cold  damp  earth  their  blankets  spread, 

There  they  reposed — this  was  their  only  bed. 

They  often  crossed  great  rivers,  deep  and  wide, 

Their  frail  canoes  they  paddled  o'er  the  tide. 

Through  pelting  stcrins  and  the  dose-ending  snow, 


ALLEN  COUNTY  AGRICULTUEAL  SOCIETY — NOTE.  31 

Though  thinly  clad,  they  still  would  onward  go. 

How  many  long  and  cheerless  nights  they  pass'd 

Unsheltered  from  the  cold  and  chilly  blast!  ' 

For  many  years  those  hardships  they  endured, 

And  they  to  arduous  toil  became  inured. 

What  lasting  gratitude  to  the  them  we  owe  ! 

'Tis  from  their  toils  our  richest  blessings  flow. 

Illustrious  men  !  though  slumbering  in  the  dust, 

You  still  are  honored  by  the  good  and  just! 

Posterity  will  shed  a  conscious  tear, 

And,  pointing,  say,  "  THKBE  SLEEPS  A  PIONEEH." 


ALLEN  COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 


This  society  was  first  organized  in  1852  for  the  encouragement  of  agricultural 
interests  and  domestic  manufactures.  Under  the  management  of  Hon.  Win. 
Kockhill,  I.  D.  G.  Nelson,  Lott  S.  Bayless,  "Wm.  Hamilton,  F.  P.  Randall,  D.  11.  W. 
Huxford,  H.  C.  Gray,  and  others,  it  continued,  with  varying  fortunes,  until  1860, 
when,  owing  to  the  disturbed  condition  of  affairs  throughout  the  country,  meetings 
of  members  and  annual  exhibitions  were  discontinued.  In  1859  a  Horticultural 
Society  was  organized  by  some  of  the  members  of  the  Agricultural  Society,  and  in 
1863,  the  two  societies  were  united,  forming  one  sssociation,  under  the  above  title. 
The  new  Organization  has  been  very  successful,  and,  with  weekly  meetings,  at  their 
rooms,  in  the  Court  House,  at  Fort  "Wayne,  aided  by  a  fine  Library,  their  discus- 
sions, are  doing  a  good  work  in  directing  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  most 
improved  system  of  agriculture  and  horticulture.  The  officers  for  the  year  1868t 
are  Adam  Link,  President;  F.  P.  Kandall,  Secretary;  S.  J^Housh,  Treasurer. 


KEMAKKS. 

In  the  compilation,  writing,  and  arranging  of  the  material  throughout  this  volume, 
I  have  drawn  freely  from  every  available*source,  and  have  been  most  careful  to  accept 
of  those  facts  only  that  are  well  substantiated  by  previously  published  records  and  per- 
sons yet  living  whose  recollections  of  many  of  the  scenes  and  accounts  presented  are 
still  quite  fresh  and  clear.  I  would  gladly  have  continued  the  "  Sketches  of  Early  Set- 
tlers of  Fort  Wayne,"  had  1  been  supplied  with  the  necessary  material  with  which  to 
form  the  same,  as  I  had  frequently  both  publicly  and  privately  expressed  and  desired 
at  an  early  day  in  the  preparation  of  this  work.  But  a  failure  to  comply  with  this  do- 
sire  is  not  to  be  attributed  to  neglect  or  indifference  on  the  part  surviving  friends  ; 
and  in  view  of  a  further  issue  of  the  work)  it  is  still  my  wish  to  receive  at  any  time  such 
facts  and  reminisences  of  the  early  fathers  and  mothers  of  Fort  Wayne  as  maybe  deem- 
ed interesting  and  valuable  for  this  department  of  the  volume. 

The  HISTORY  OF  FORT  WAYNE  could  not  perhaps  have  been  prepared  and  sent  forth  at 
a  more  favorable  or  propitious  period.  Having  attained  a  wonderful,  and  let  us  hope,  a 
most  valuable  and  lasting  growth,  with  the  prospects  of,  and  earnest  desire  for,  a  still 
wider,  more  beautiful  and  benificcnt  range  of  culture  in  the  future,  we  are  to-day  the 
better  enabled  to  look  back  upon  the  scenes  and  hardships  of  the  Past,  and  to  scan  with 
a  more  scrutinizing  vision  the  perils  and  vicissitudes  that  beset  the  pathway  of  the 
pioneers  of  the  West;  and  the  general  connecting  links  of  the  work  have  been  most 
carefully  preserved  throughout,  rendering  it  thereby  most  vauable  ill  a  general  as  well 
as  local  point  of  view.  W.  A.  B. 


JDJE  ix: . 

Biography  of  General  Anthony  Wayne,         :         :          :         :         s         :         :        i       vul 

CHAPTER  I. — Situation  and  primitive  relations,  :  :::::! 

CHAPTER  II. — Primitive  accounts — The  Mastedon — Indian  habits  and  customs — 
names  of  tribes,  :  :  :  :  i  :  :  :  14 

CHAPTER  III. — Habits  and  customs  continued^— Indian  dances— -French  settlements 
---Suggestions  of  Dr.  Franklin---Dances-— Peace-pipe-— An  incident,  :  :  32 

CHAPTER  IV.— Death  of  La  Salle— French  stockade  forts— French  and  Indian  war 
---Death  of  Wolfe,  and  defeat  of  the  French  at  Quebec,  :  :  :  43 

CHAPTER*  VI.— Condition  of  tribes  after  the  French  and  Indian  war— The  Delaware 
Prophet— British  occupancy  of  forts— -Commencement  of  the  Pontiac  war,  57 

CHAPTER  VII. --Siege  of  Detroit,  and  defeat  of  Pontiao—Captain  Morris  at  the 
Miami  village-— Croghan's  journal— Death  of  Pontiac,  :  :  :  :  73 

CHAPTER  VIII.— The  war  for  Independence,         :         :          :         :         :          :         :     88 

CHAPTER  IX.-— Early  pioneers— Movements  of  George  Rogers  Clark-— Capture  of 
Kaskaskia---Retaking  of  Vineennes-— La  Balnie's  expedition,  :  :  93 

CHAPTER  X. — Emigration  westward---Territorial  government— Gamelin's  journal— 
Forsyth's  narration-— General  Cass'  address— -Harmar's  Expedition,  :  :  106 

CHAPTER  XL— Expedition  and  defeat  of  General  Arthur  St.  Glair,         :  :         131 

CHAPTER  XII. ---Relief  of  the  frontier  settlements— -General  Wayne's  appointment 
and  expedition. ..Battle  of  the  Rapids. ..Erection  of  Fort  Wayne,  and  treaty  of 
Greenville,  :::::::::  143 

CHAPTER  XIII. ...Emigration   westward. ..Death  of  General  Wayne...The  Shawanoe 

Prophet. ..Treaty  of  Fort  Wayne. ..Tecumseh... Progress  of  avents  leading  to  the 

war  ol  1812,         ::::::::::::         158 

/CHAPTER  XIV. ...Plot  to  massacre  Fort  AVayne... Tecumseh  and  the  treaty  of  Fort 

Wayne. ..Battle  of  Tippecanoe,  :  :  :  :  l;,>  •  :  •*!*£—" 

CHAPTER*  XVI. ...Assembly  of  Indians  at  Fort  Wayne— Visit  of  Tecumseh. ..Death  of 
Little  Turtle. ..Preparations  for  war. ..Hull's  surrender. ..Captain  Well's  expedition 
to  Chicago. ..His  death  and  defeat  ot  the  troops  of  Fort  Dearborn,  :  :  19£ 

CHAPTER  XVII. ...Siege  of  Fort  Wayne. ..Movements  of  the  army  for  its  relief        211 

CHAPTER  XVIII.. ..Early  Prophecy  concerning  Fort  Wayne. ..Movements  of  the  army 
from  Fort  Wayne. ..General  Winchester's  appointment,  and  movement  down  the 
Maumee,  ::::::  :::::;:  224 

CHAPTER  XIX... .Siege  of  Fort  Harrison. ..Massacre  of  the  Pigeon-Roost  settlement- 
Capture  of  Gen.  Winchester. ..Massacre  of  Frenchtown,  and  death  of  Col.  Allen, 232 

CHAPTER  XX.. ..General  movements  of  the  army  under  Harrison. ..Expedition  of  Col. 
Richard  M.  Johnson  to  Fort  Wayne,.. Bombardment  of  Fort  Meigs... Capture  of 
Fort  George. ..Evacuation  of  Fort  Miami,  at  the  foot  of  the  Rapids,  :  ;  244 

CHAPTER  XXI. ..Movements  at  Fort  Wayne. ..Plan  of  Col.  R.  M.Johnson. ..His  march 
to  Fort  Wayne,  and  movements  from  the  Fort. ..Re-investment  oi  Fort  Meigs,  24jJ 

CHAPTER  XXII  — Reintorcements  from  Ohio  and  Kentucky — Commodore  Perryon 
the  lake — Defeat  ot  the  British — Destruction  of  Maiden — Retreat  of  the  British 
— Speech  of  Tecumseh,  ::::::::::  262 

CHAPTER  XXI1L— Pursuit  of  the  British— Bones  of  the  killed  of  Frenchtown— The 
American  Eagle  hovering  over  the  army — Battle  of  the  Thames — Defeat. of  the 
Briiish  and  deufh  of  Tecumst-h,  ::::::::  2G6 

CHAPTER  XXiV. — Further  Movements  of  the  American  army  after  the  battle  of  the 
Thames — Resignation  ot  General  Harrison — Treaty  of  Greenville — The  fort — 
An  incident  ::::;:::::::  "279 

CHAPTER  XXV.— Value  of  Fort  Wayne  to  the  country  at  large— Kindly  spirit  of 
the  garrison — Indian  bones — Navigation — The  fur  trade — Evacuation  of  the 
fort — Names  of  Commandants — Settlers  of  lt*15 — Captain  James  Ril<y — Ran- 
do!  [ >h  county — Letter  o»  Mujor  Stick  nt-y — State  Districts,  .  : 

CHAPTER  XXVI.— The  Land  ottice— Purchase  of  Barr  and  McCorkle—  The  old  plat 
— -First  school-bouse — Fish — Fort  Wayne  in  1819 — Traces — Eaily  puichnsers  of 
land — Organization  of  Allen  county — County  officers — Court  sessions — Trial  of 
Big-L.-g — Canal  grant — Hon.  O.iver  H.  Smith — Senatorial  Districts — Winter  of 
18jl-2— Wolv«.6--  Tuber's  addition—  Common  Pleas  and  Criminal  courts — Mar- 
riage record?,  :  :  ::::::::::  293 

CHAPTER  XXVII. — First  court-house  and  buildings  of  court-square — Present  court- 
house— Post  offico — The  old  pond — Shawanoe  Run — Chief  Richardville — The 
Sand-bill —  ndian  bones  and  relics — Population — An.  eaily  resident — Roads, 
buildings,  and  business — Manufactories — The  world's  future  great  commercial 
centre — Railroads — Kirst  Printing  office — Churches  and  educational  relations — 
The  Future,  ::::::::::::  312 

*  By  an  oversight  ol  the  printer,  this  C'hn'  *pr  is  printed  "VI,''  instead  of  V  ;  and  Chapter  XV,  by  a 
•imilttr  mishap,  is  made  t»  read,  "  Ctinpti  r  XVI ;"  neither  of  which,  Uuwuvor,  otuorwido  iutcrtoro  wita 
Uw  n-nuiar  ordw  or  reading  of  tu«  cJ*aywr«  ttmtagbunt  tto  bwA. 


INDEX.  33 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  OF  EARLY  SETTLERS  OF  FORT  WAYNE,  ETC. 

Biography  of  Samuel   Hanna,  :  :  :  :  : 

Sketch  of  Gen'l  Hyacinth  Lasselle,          :  :  :  :  :  :         15 

Sketch  of  Henry  lludisill,         ::::::::  16 

Sketch  of  Mrs.  Laura  Suttenfield,  :  :  :  :  :  :  :         17 

Sketch  of  Allen  Hamilton,  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  18 

Sketch  of  Mrs.  Emeline  Griswold,         :          :  :  :  : 

Sketch  of  the  Ewings— W.  G.  &  Q.  W.  Ewing,  ; 

Sketch  of  Early  German  Settlers  of  Fort  Wayne,       :        I    :    ' 

"  Pioneers  of  the  West" — (Poetry,)  :         : 

Allen  County  Agricultural  Society — Remarks,          :  :!' 


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